The Order Of Silverite
by Wandering Letters
Summary: A group of adventurers decide they want to make it to the prestigious Order Of Silverite, a guild that's considered the best of the best. How will they go about doing this? Their exploits and story will be remembered across Grimgar for decades to come. Rated T but can change to M. SYOC story. 01/20/2017 Submissions are closed.
1. Guidelines And Explanation

**Hello everyone!**

 **Wandering Letters here with both some good news and some bad news.**

 **Let's start with the bad news (though it could be either depending on your perspective).**

 **I've decided to put _From The Ashes_ on  hiatus. The reason for this is that I don't think it belongs here and instead, should be posted on a platform where everyone can get involved and interact with each other. A lot of the people who submitted for _From The Ashes_ , as well as a great deal of the other SYOC stories I've done in the past have not had any kind of activity since the day it was posted and it's one of the things I hate about doing SYOC stories: users sometimes only submit to get the recognition and then proceed to not care about the actual story. And when you try to get in touch with them, it's borderline impossible.**

 **It is for this reason, that you may notice _From The Ashes_ hasn't been touched in a while. I've certainly not abandoned the idea because I still have the entire story plan written out in my notes (I keep a notebook for all of my projects) so once I've gotten my AO3 account sorted, I'll let you guys know so you can view it on there instead. I think it would be a place far better for the story because it would allow everyone to interact with each other. A good friend of mine made a statement that I believe to be very true:**

 **"Heading a project in _Grimgar Of Fantasy And Ash_ is practically writing a D &D campaign and right now, you don't really have players because half the people you've gotten characters from aren't active at all or at least, show a lot of interest."**

 **Those words struck home for me so I'm gonna be changing up the way I do SYOC stories on a whole, starting right here and right now.**

 **So I _sincerely_ apologize to everyone who was hoping for an update anytime soon because honestly, it probably won't happen (at least here). Like I said before, I'll be sure to let you guys know when I get my AO3 account going and it may very well be the medium I decide to do all of my SYOC stories on from now on if I like it enough. A lot of people have recommended it to me so I guess so many can't be wrong eh?**

* * *

 **Now for the good news (for those of you who haven't clicked the back button or closed your tab yet).**

 **I've written a smaller story idea for the same fandom in order to get me back into the flow of things (I was on a several month hiatus due to a lot of problems and I've only recently returned, though not with the SYOC format so it's obviously a lot easier) and I've come to you guys to see if you'd like to be a part of it.**

 **Yes I know I have several SYOC stories on my catalog to write, but I'm trying to handle each fandom while I have the inspiration to write in it and since I'm gonna get very busy this year, I need to write whenever I have the time to do so. I recently rewatched Grimgar with my younger cousins as well as my best friend and I really thought long and hard about this idea.**

 **The idea here is to create a small party (hopefully of equal numbers in gender) and essentially, play out the storyline I've come up with. It's going to be different than the other stories I've done because it's going to have a very different tone than the usual story that I write. If you've all been fans of me, you know that I love writing romance stories and happy endings, as well as trying to write very emotional pieces. I've decided that I'm gonna try and branch out a bit more, but rest assured that the usual Wandering Letters flavor will still be present as well.**

 **I'm going to keep the submission rules the same as _From The Ashes_ , but there will be key differences here:**

 **1) I'm encouraging the lot of you (especially those who are chosen to be in the cast) to interact with each other.**

 **This begs the question: "But _Letters_. Aren't _you_ supposed to be the writer?".**

 **Yes I am the writer and I know that I'm supposed to take the reins but hear me out before you start throwing the tomatoes.**

 **One of the biggest challenges there are in writing a SYOC type of story (and one of the reasons why a lot of writers don't take them on) is that one can only be as accurate as the submitters allow one to. In other words, even if I portray your character correctly, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm crafting _their story_ correctly as well. What I mean by this is let's say Jennifer is supposed to be your textbook Kuudere and I absolutely nail her personality. Right down to the way she may speak. But then even though I've gotten her character right, it doesn't mean I'm taking her story in the correct direction. What if she has other agendas besides reaching the end of the finish line? What if something that happens during the story affects her a lot more profoundly that I portray it to be? It's questions like this that arise that caused me to rethink the way I do SYOC stories and here I am attempting to impart that new way of thinking.**

 **I think now that SYOC stories should be a lot more interactive and now, I whole-heartedly encourage ideas of your own (perhaps small arcs involving your character that you may have in mind or perhaps you can speak among each other and say that your characters should get with each other or something of the sort). To me, you guys aren't just my readers. You're also just as much of the writer as I am when you give me your characters so incorporating your ideas is something I whole-heartedly encourage. If you have ideas, I'm practically opening the doors into my office and welcoming them all. This isn't to say I'll take all of them on, but I truly want you guys to feel like you've really impacted the story, not just given me someone I can use to push the story onwards. I've made some great friends doing this kind of story and I feel as if we should all have a say in the way things work. That's the reason why I always say in my notes to message me about anything you have on your mind concerning the story; I'm encouraging you guys to challenge me. Say things you think could be awesome to do in the story and who knows! They could actually happen!**

 **I guess to put it in a TL:DR type of language, I think SYOC stories should be a lot like a Telltale game, only that it's everyone who affects the story and not just the protagonist. When I don't think of arcs for characters and such like that, I feel as if I'm doing a disservice to you guys. I feel like I'm not doing nearly enough to make you guys enjoy it and that is the reason why I want you guys to interact with each other. Speak among yourselves because what I like to say about things like this:**

 **I'm the director and story writer. You guys are the actors who have the added benefit of being able to create story arcs centered around yourselves.**

 **2) I'll be taking a smaller cast this time and I will not make compromises. Usually, I would work with people to sort characters out fully but I learned my lesson in _From The Ashes_ and also with _Standing United_. When I post guidelines, I expect you guys to read it fully and then follow it. That being said, if the case isn't too severe, I'll probably work with you but if it's something that's just straight up not lore-friendly or completely out of this world, consider it automatically rejected. There were a few people who copied and pasted things straight from the wikia page and tried to say it was theirs. I'm not interested in lack of creativity and because of that, I will accept nothing that didn't have any effort put into. If you're looking for a quick way to get a character into a story, this is  not the place for you. As a result of this, read the guidelines _carefully_. I am not beyond working with you if I see genuine interest in being a part of the story but if there's no effort shown, I'm not interested in doing all of the work for you. If you want to be a part of this, do the research and show the interest.**

 **3) The end goal of this story is something I'll state right here from the start. The reason for this is because I want you guys to think as well. I don't consider myself a good writer and I believe that every idea has some merit to it (within reason of course). With the end goal in sight, this allows all of you guys to consider that fact when creating your character and everything that can happen in between. With that said, this allows you guys to think of arcs or small sections where your character will be getting the spotlight. Speaking of spotlights...**

 **4) _Everyone's_ gonna be getting the spotlight. After reading over a lot of my previous work, I realized that I just plain didn't give enough characters their fair share of screen time. As a result of this, I'm going to make a very conscious effort to get everyone a good amount of time to shine. This is part of the reason why I am saying you guys can come up with small little arcs that can help flush your character out so instead of a static reader saying "Mary was just the healer" they can instead say "I totally understand why Mary became a healer and seeing her overcome her demons and problems really helped me to like her character". No one in the main cast is going to get significantly more attention than the other. That's the aim anyway.**

 **5) The final difference is that I'm going to try and make a schedule to do updates. What I usually end up doing is getting inspired to write a lot, which is why sometimes you'll see even sometimes daily updates but I realized that I burn myself out too quickly when I do that so as a result, I'll try to stick to an update schedule to give you guys something to look forward to (assuming you like the idea to begin with). New year and new Letters I say.**

 **Now that I've said that massive mouthful, I'll leave _From The Ashes_ up to give you guys shining examples of how to craft your characters. If you're not interested in reading _From The Ashes_ , I'll still leave the character formatting and such right here in this chapter. For those of you who have been around since _From The Ashes_ , I've been told my AO3 account will become active in about a week so if you're looking for updates to that, rest assured that they will be coming. Just not right now.**

* * *

 **Whew! Now that we've gotten all that out of the way, time to get down to it. The storyline I have in mind is quite simple.**

 **The party will be accepting a new person into your group in order to round it up to a group of six, which is the typical number of people in a party in Grimgar's lore.**

 **The party's ultimate goal is to join the prestigious _Order Of Silverite_ guild, which is a fictional guild that basically says that you're the best of the best and once you join this guild, you've basically got everything you need and then some to survive in the world of Grimgar. Obviously, it's not by any means easy to join this guild but that's the purpose of this story: to see a party rise from a rag-tag group of people to something great.**

 **For some background information, this story will not take place the moment everyone is brought into the world. Instead, it will occur a few weeks afterwards so that a lot of people have had time to find groups to work with and have at least some sense of camaraderie. One big event will occur and three characters will be selected to be surviving members of a battle. These survivors will then look to refill their group with new people, which two submissions will fill as well. Finally, a final sixth character will be added at a later time in the story. The three members who perished in the battle are as follows:**

 ** _Ray_ \- The former Warrior of the group. He was the person who initially brought the lot of you together, so you can view him as a leader type figure as well as the father figure. He dies trying to protect the healer. Picture him as the rock that holds everyone together, much like how Manato held Haruhiro's group at first in the anime.**

 ** _Charlotte_ \- The former Hunter of the group. She was Ray's girlfriend, but died first in the battle that also claimed him. Treat her as the mother figure of the group and she was always kind to everyone.**

 ** _Neal_ \- The former Thief of the group. Died because he tried to escape the battle and was killed during his attempt to flee. Overall, he didn't suit too much of a purpose apart from having a sly tongue. For the most part, he didn't get along well with anyone in the group and had stolen from them a few times in the past.**

 **That being said, the three initial members who are left need to be defined. This requires that these three are at least a healer and two classes of any kind that are not considered tanks, because the initial problem they face is being unable to go out into dungeons due to there being no one to be on the frontlines without an extreme amount of danger involved.**

 **The person who will be joining the party will be revealed a bit later on. For now, the three initial members as well as two other members who join shortly after that battle need to be decided.**

 **This is where I open the floor to all of you guys.**

 **Three of you will create the initial three members and two will create the two that will join the group shortly after that.**

* * *

 **Here's the job section. Made some modifications to it in order to adjust to the fact that we will not be doing a significantly long storyline. I excluded the Necromancer class because as far as we know, there's only one person in the entire series who's a Necromancer and as far as we've seen, she's the ONLY one.**

 **~ o ~**

 **The Warrior's Guild**

 _"A fine line exists between a fighter and a warrior. One is motivated by reason, the other by purpose. One fights to live while while the other lives to fight"_

 **Warriors as you can imagine form the fundamental backbone of any party in the world of Grimgar. They function as tanks who draw the aggression from enemies who are a threat to the party, especially for the more vulnerable members such as Priests and Mages who can't risk close combat. This is one of the classes that is considered to be an absolute necessity: no party can function without a warrior.**

 **The typical warrior wears heavy armor, wields heavy weapons and specializes in strength and endurance. Needless to say, they serve as the frontline and first line of defense for anyone else in the party who is vulnerable.**

 **To keep things in character and in class, all warriors must wear heavy armor. However, you can choose to use a sword and shield or a two handed weapon; it's pretty unrealistic to me to see a tank use a giant mace or sword instead of using a sword and shield sometimes.**

 **The choice is yours!**

 **~ o ~**

 **The Mage's Guild**

 _"Magic is believing in yourself. If you can do that, you can make anything happen."_

 **The most prominent magic profession in the world of Grimgar. Mages function as both supports and offensive members depending on what they choose to focus their training on. A mage draws diagrams in the air which releases their magic spells. Depending on how skilled they are, they can cast these spells quickly and with greater potency. Casting a lot of spells however will drain their energy and stamina quickly and if cast too quickly in succession, mages can find themselves without the energy to even lift their staff.**

 **Mages typically carry a staff into battle which helps them to focus their energy and as a last resort to defend themselves should an enemy get past their friends. As a result, all mages stay in the most protected area or far in the back which gives them ample time to cast all of their spells.**

 **They wear robes and wield a staff and most wear hats as well. However, this can be a little more open because they don't really seem to be required to wear the robes and such so for those who want a mage as their character, you have a lot more wiggle room in designing their appearance.**

 **All Mages cannot leave their guild once they have joined and once per month, Mages are required to attend a guild meeting in which they share all that they have learned with their guildmates.**

 **To make things a bit more interesting, you can choose to specialize in a particular element for your spells. The elements I will allow are as follows:**

 **Ice  
Fire  
Wind  
Arcane  
Lightning**

 **I'll leave it to you to decide how to apply those spells because bear in mind, the spells haven't been done too much here.**

 **Get creative!**

 **~ o ~**

 **The Priest's Guild**

 _"A healer is someone who seeks to be the light that she wishes she had in her darkest moments"_

 **The Priest is the premier healing class in Grimgar and is considered the second job that no party can be without. Their primary purpose is to heal the injuries of their party members. Like mages, Priests take time to cast their spells but unlike mages, they must chant a prayer in the exact words they are taught, else the spell will not work. Like mages, their prayers drain their energy and stamina. To counteract this weakness, experienced priests will only heal major injuries and leave minor ones to be done later when the group is safely out of a jam.**

 **Priests are seen wielding staffs and wearing robes. Unlike mages as well, Priests also have a few close combat skills which makes them not as defenseless as their pure spellcasting friends. However, this does not mean that they should be out on the frontlines (we all can't be Mary obviously).**

 **You have a lot of room to design appearances in this class as well but to keep it in character, lets limit it to staves and robes (unless you've got a creative idea, in which case feel free to share!)**

 **All Priests worship the God Of Light and once per month, they are required to attend a mandatory meeting at a chapel. This is where they ritualistically renew their favor with the God Of Light.**

 **~ o ~**

 **The Hunter's Guild**

 _"To hunt successfully, you must know your ground, your pack and your quarry"_

 **The Hunter serves as the survivalist of the group. They typically wield a bow and specialize in applying pressure to enemies to give their teammates an edge in battle. All hunters are considered useful due to their ability to track as well as their survival skills overall, such as pointing out edible plants and improvising herbal remedies based on their knowledge of the land.**

 **Hunters are typically seen wearing leather armor and almost always are equipped with bows. They also have skills with the bow as well as evasion skills on hand in order to get out of sticky situations. They are a very agile class but obviously, can't take a beating very well in addition to not being the best at melee combat. However, Hunters can acquire a wolf companion, which they must care for and nurture themselves as it is part of the taming process. They buy their companion from their guild.**

 **For anyone who wants to choose this class, keep a couple of facts in mind:**

 **Hunters worship the Goddess, Eldritch. Eldritch takes the form of a giant wolf and is said to be a benevolent goddess.**

 **Hunters dislike the Black God, Rigel, who is also a giant wolf due to the fact that Rigel and Eldritch have bad blood between them.**

 **It is a rite of passage for a Hunter to acquire a wolf companion. It is not avoidable.**

 **In addition to all this, Hunters are encouraged to bring back trophies to their guild to showcase their skills. The most skilled Hunters get actual help from the guild, such as financial support as well as giving out gear.**

 **~ o ~**

 **The Dread Knight's Guild**

 _"You think darkness is your ally? You've merely adopted it"_

 **The Dread Knight plays a similar role to the Warrior. Unlike them however, they prefer medium armor and weapons and typically take an offensive role, attacking when they deem it best and then staying out of range of all other attacks until an opening presents itself again.**

 **The Dread Knight worships the Ruler Of Death, Skulhei and unlike other guilds, you cannot join this guild and then leave. Once you're a part of it, you're with it for the rest of your life.**

 **Dread Knights also typically allow themselves to be possessed by their own personal demons, which grow in strength according to the Dread Knight's skill.**

 **Dread Knights have not been too defined in the lore of Grimgar, as Ranta has only displayed several melee skills. As a result of this, the possibility stands that a Dread Knights abilities are dictated by the type of demon they are bonded to.**

 **The anime has highlighted the majority of the customs that Dread Knights follow, so go ahead and refer to that or the wikia for information on it.**

 **Choosing this class means you can go ahead and create a demon in addition to your character as well. For the love of god...don't make something overpowered.**

 **~ o ~**

 **The Thief's Guild**

 _"A thief is a thief. No matter what he steals, whether it be an acorn or a diamond"_

 **The quintessential rogue class of Grimgar. Thieves specialize in fast movements as well as ambushing enemies as opposed to fighting them head on. A thief is considered useful due to their ability to remain undetected, making them excellent scouts as well as assassins due to their large selection of skills meant to take advantage of being undetected.**

 **The thief typically wields daggers and wears medium armor. Thieves however do not really follow a strict code or guideline like most guilds. They only follow a few rules, which is mostly concerning honor rather than actual rules.**

 **They are not allowed to operate in the same area as another Thief (unless given consent).**

 **They must never steal from their fellow guildmates.**

 **Thieves are also required to show things they have acquired during their outings to their master in order to check that they are upholding their teachings.**

 **Designing a thief doesn't really have much limitations apart from what an actual rogue would realistically wear.**

 **~ o ~**

 **The following classes are mentioned and not too much is specified about them, so I've gone ahead and improvised where I can.**

 **~ o ~**

 **The Samurai**

 _"Accepting one's own strength, and the strength of others, is an important quality of a swordsman"_

 **The Samurai often stands as a more offensive version of the warrior. Unlike them, they do not usually wear heavy armor and often choose to wear thicker leather or even just robes. The samurai's weapon of choice is the katana, though some are known to wield wakizashis in favor of a faster style of swordplay. Samurai do not use shields, due to it conflicting with their primarily two handed fighting style.**

 **Unlike many other professions, samurai do not have a single guild. Instead, they have several "schools", each teaching a different style of swordplay as well as an overall way of life. Each school is headed by a grandmaster, who trains the students in basic swordplay and their respective tenant of Bushido. Samurai who have retired from adventuring often serve as advisors and secondary teachers to their school's pupils if the need arises.**

 **All samurai must swear the oath of Bushido. They are required to dedicate themselves fully to upholding their tenant and failure to do so is considered a great dishonor, enough to warrant the person who disobeys to commit hara-kiri. They are trained to be warriors capable of handling most situations on their own but are also taught the values of teamwork and dedication, especially in conjunction with ones of their kind. A samurai will primarily be the one inflicting damage or protecting other vulnerable members of the party should the need arise and the party's designated tank is unable to do so themselves.**

 **Samurai are not by any means a frontline fighter to protect the party, but if they master their skills and fighting styles well enough, they can be a force to be reckoned with even against those with magical power. To make them more fairly balanced as well, they do not learn how to wield a bow like their real life counterparts. All they know how to do is handle a sword as well as martial arts.**

 **If you are designing a samurai, you must choose one of the following schools. Each school has a differing way of life, as indicated by their names which follow the tenants of Bushido and as such, will have an associated swordplay style. If you have questions, feel free to ask.**

 **Gi- _Righteousness_**

 _Swordplay focuses on protecting others and being defensive. Uses a standard katana and prioritizes chainmail armor. Samurai trained here often join parties for free and are usually very kind and nice in nature._

 **Yu- _Courage_**

 _Swordplay focuses on being on the frontlines. A samurai trained here is capable of functioning as a tank if the need arises. Wears heavy armor to suit their unique role. Samurai trained here are known for how fearless they are, as well as how calm they can remain on the battlefield._

 **Jin- _Benevolence/Compassion_**

 _Focuses on swordplay that is not inherently deadly, instead only being deadly if the need is dire. Most techniques taught here are meant to incapacitate the opponent instead of outright killing them. Uses a standard katana along with traditional chainmail._

 **Rei- _Respect_**

 _Focuses on swordplay that favors dueling and attempting to predict the opponent's every move. A samurai trained here has the choice of a wakizashi or a katana and they usually don chainmail. Usually, Samurai trained here are described as "rogues with katanas" due to their calculating and opportunistic style of swordplay._

 **Makoto- _Integrity_**

 _Swordplay focuses on being as well rounded of a fighter as possible in order to be self-sufficent. The samurai trained here do not usually join parties and instead, serve their school and master. If they do join a party, it is in a mercenary like fashion. Uses a standard katana and wears the full set of traditional samurai gear, mask and all._

 **Meiyo- _Honor_**

 _Swordplay focuses on perfecting the art of combat, completely forgoing a particular kind of lifestyle. This is the only school that allows a samurai to choose their wielding style in addition to their weapon. Has the most rigorous training of the main schools and unlike the others, a samurai isn't considered worthy until he can defeat his master in a sparring match. Samurai trained here get to choose their preferred armor style. This school produces the most elite samurai and has a notoriously difficult trial to be accepted by the grandmaster._

 **Chugi- _Loyalty_**

 _Standard samurai training but unlike the others, samurai here are encouraged to become a permanent part of a party and are taught to selflessly serve and protect their comrades. Swordplay is a balance of defense and offense, but prioritize swift strikes in order to finish an opponent as quickly as possible in order to tend to struggling party members. Uses a standard katana and wears chainmail. Of any school, the samurai trained here are known for their heroic feats and selfless acts._

 **No samurai is considered as such until he successfully defeats an elder pupil in a sparring match. In addition to this, the grandmaster will only recognize a student as a true samurai once they have truly proven themselves to uphold the tenant their respective school embodies, often times through a constructed trail of the grandmaster's choosing.**

 **A samurai can train in multiple schools if they wish to and any who manage to complete the training for two or more are considered worthy enough to become a master. A samurai who has mastered the vast majority of the skills in their respective school can also receive a blessing from the grandmaster, allowing them to carry the teachings to other parts of Grimgar and later, become a grandmaster themselves.**

 **The grandmaster is considered a samurai's closest bond and usually, a grandmaster only teaches a single student at a time. In some cases, two may be taught. This is done mainly to ensure absolute perfection in the training, in addition to teaching the student the importance of the bond and it is not uncommon see a master and pupil go everywhere together. Some even get together if their bond is strong enough. Grandmasters also encourage their students to pass on their teachings to others, becoming somewhat of a role model in the eyes of new adventurers.**

 **~ o ~**

 **The Paladin**

 _"A warrior is mighty with his own strength and endurance. A paladin is even mightier with the power of light."_

 **The Paladin is considered another viable substitute for a warrior should a party be unable to acquire one. They are not as proficient as warriors as they rely on their ability to cast light magic to supplement their inherently weaker physical prowess in comparison to their warrior counterparts. However, their light magic is geared towards enhancing themselves instead of being offensive. In addition, many of the Paladin's spells and skills are geared towards combating dark magic and the undead.**

 **All Paladins worship the God Of Light, just like that of the Priests. Their customs however differ from Priests.**

 **A paladin is nowhere near as proficient a healer as a Priest is and as such, is not a replacement. They are however capable of healing minor wounds, which takes some pressure off of a party's Priest. They are more than capable of holding their own on the frontlines like a Warrior, but are not as physically capable which forces them to fill more of a secondary bruiser role as opposed to a main tank.**

 **Paladins wear heavy armor and usually wield a mace with a shield or a two handed mace.**

 **To keep things in a bit closer to lore, those who join the Paladin's guild must adhere to several rules:**

 **They must swear an oath to serve their guild unconditionally, which means their guild takes priority over their party.**

 **They must swear an oath of celibacy, unless they are marrying someone in which case, it can be overlooked.**

 **Paladins must also contribute part of their earnings to the guild as a tithe.**

 **Paladins are required to meet once a month at a chapel to renew their favor with the God Of Light, just as Priests do.**

 **Failure to uphold any of these tenants results in a sanction, which forces the Paladin to have to atone for his sin, normally by way of a temporary exile to the wilderness. If a Paladin does this three times, he is expelled from the guild and treated as an enemy.**

 **A Paladin is taught to never work with Dread Knights and as such, they will never join a party that contains one. The same goes for Necromancers.**

 **~ o ~**

 **The Shaman**

 _"Ancestral spirits are sources of great wisdom. It takes a special gift to understand their ways"_

 **The shaman is a class that primarily focuses on supporting the party with magic. They are often times found in the back of the battle, casting spells that enhance their teammates and some are even capable of a limited degree of healing.**

 **They are not as proficient as Priests when it comes to healing and as a result, should not be considered an alternative. If presented with a combat situation, shamans can defend themselves with their staves but are not proficient enough to stand and fight for long.**

 **Most Shaman magic comes from nature spirits and some shamans also channel their magic through totems which they receive from their guild upon completing their initial training. Shamans can also carve their own totems and are taught to do so early in their training. A shaman can specialize in nature, air or earth magic and must have specific totems to cast different schools of magic. Totems require a spirit to be bound to them, whether willingly or forcefully. Most totems can be broken depending on their quality but if the spirit is strong enough, the totems will only briefly lose their connection to the spirit when it is strained too hard.**

 **Spirits can have genders and can take on multiple forms. They are capable of emotion and often times form true bonds with the shamans they commune with. This is the reason why most shamans call the spirits they bind their "allies" or "companions" instead of just a spirit. When the bond is strong enough between shaman and spirit, the spirit can materialize into the mortal world by channeling their totem. Normally, these spirits have to be particularly powerful and often, they have their own unique names given to them to signify this. Spirits can also act independently of the shaman's will, though most will not conflict with their partner due to their inherently strong bond.**

 **Shamans also have the ability to shapeshift into a spirit animal at will. The spirit animal is determined by the animal spirit that all shamans must bond to, which can be a wolf, an owl or a panther. Bonding to a spirit animal is considered a rite of passage that all shamans must complete.**

 **Shamans are required to attend all guild meetings as it is a time for them to communicate with the spirits they call upon in a non-combat manner. Shamans are also required to share any knowledge they have acquired with their guild in order for other shamans to be aware of anything going on in the spirit realm. The shaman's trainer is also spiritually bound to his/her students, which allows them to sense their presence as well as communicate with them within a set distance through the spirit realm.**

 **~ o ~**

 **The Knight**

 _"A stalwart defender. A courageous leader. A voice to guide the unwise."_

 **The knight is the only other class that is considered the true alternative to a warrior for a main tank. Unlike warriors, knights have to swear oaths to their guild and live a much stricter lifestyle. In addition, not just any person can become a knight. As a result of this, Knights are normally experienced Warriors who join the guild in hopes of pursuing a more extravagant life. The knight's guildhouse is famous for how luxurious it is, which is one of the reasons the profession is considered one of the greatest.**

 **Knights and warriors wield the same equipment though knights often times are seen wearing capes and the crest of their guild on their armor. Most of a knight's equipment comes from his guild, which he must buy just like a warrior would in the market. Knights also have a ranking system unlike most other guilds. Higher rankings entitles them to new perks, such as cheaper equipment and the ability to travel with the guild on missions. Most lower ranked knights spend their time making a name for themselves by accomplishing feats, such as slaying a certain number of monsters or successfully leading runs to a dungeon.**

 **All knights are required to recite their guild mandate every time they enter the guild house and all knights must report to the guild whenever they are summoned, else they will get sanctioned and must work a certain number of hours serving the guild in order to remove it. Finally, knights are not allowed to leave their guild once they have sworn their oaths. Any knight who attempts to leave will be banished from Grimgar and if they are found by the guild, they are considered an enemy and as such, will be killed.**

 **A knight is considered ready to join a party once he completes his training, which normally ends with a combat trial comprised of horseback combat as well has one on one duels. Once he has passed his trials, he is given a standard set of armor with the guild's crest on its back.**

 **A knight can choose to live in his guildhouse or live in a home outside of it. He also receives a horse once he reaches a certain rank. The horse is his and no other knight is allowed to ride it without permission or in the case of emergencies. If he chooses to live outside of the guildhouse, he is not allowed to take his horse with him, even if the home has a stable due to the possibility of emergencies happening where all knights are needed on the battlefield as soon as possible.**

 **~ o ~**

 **The Sword Dancer**

 _"A sword is a weapon to most. To a sword dancer, it is the greatest form of art and expression,"_

 **The sword dancer takes a similar role to the Samurai in a party. Unlike samurai however, sword dancers focus solely on agile swordplay and are often seen dual wielding swords or focusing on a particular type of sword, most often a rapier. Sword Dancers are also considered a rarity, due to how difficult the training is to accomplish without permanent injury or even death.**

 **The sword dancer is focused on using speed and skill to overwhelm their opponents and wear light armor in order to be as fleet-footed as possible. Skilled sword dancers are capable of executing almost inhuman techniques with their weapons and it is considered a great rarity to see a skilled Sword Dancer.**

 **The sword dancer, unlike other classes, do not have a true guild but instead, learn from a small group of masters. These masters test their pupils extensively before allowing them to train fully. A sword dancer's initial training with a master is designed to train their speed and flexibility and as a final trial to allow them to go into parties, they must be able to defeat at least four goblins simultaneously. As a result, a sword dancer's training is among the most brutal and some have even crippled themselves. Those who survive however are ranked as some of the finest swordsmen in all of Grimgar. Sword Dancers are sometimes called upon by the Knight's Guild for large scale tasks or missions and they sometimes train with the most elite of the samurai, using the opportunity as a chance to further refine their skills.**

 **Anyone deciding a Sword Dancer needs to bear in mind that they can never function as anything more than a duelist. Even if they're very skilled, they are by no means a replacement for a Warrior. Their training increases their speed primarily, so they cannot wield heavy swords. In addition to this, they cannot wear anything more than light armor. Finally, Sword Dancers are not allowed to join any other guild once their training is complete, due to the masters seeing all other styles of life as "disgracing their art".**

 **~ o ~**

 **The Archer**

 _"The joy is great of him who strays. In shady woods on summer days_

 _With eyes alert and muscles steady, his bow strung, his arrows ready"_

 _\- Maurice Thompson, Witchery Of Archery_

 **The main distinction between a hunter and an archer is that the archer forgoes the training in tracking and survival and instead, focuses solely on mastery of the bow. Those who wish to become an archer must spend a long time training with a basic bow before they are allowed to specialize in one of two types: the longbow or the shortbow.**

 **Archers are considered better marksmen than Hunters and have skills dedicated to keeping their distance as well as ensuring that their arrows find their mark. The archer is an agile class that is great at applying pressure to enemies and even capable of assassinating them with a well placed shot.**

 **To become an archer, one must join the Ranger's Guild, which is a joint guild that has retired Hunters helping to run it. In this guild, an archer is taught how to fletch their own arrows in addition to stringing and maintaining a bow. After completing that training, archers are put through vigorous marksmanship training and no archer is considered ready to join a party unless he/she is able to make a kill with their bow with a single shot.**

 **Archers wear light armor and are not at all equipped to fight in close quarters unlike a Hunter who can at least defend themselves with certain skills. As a result, they rely on the warrior in their party to keep the attention of their enemies while they rain arrows from afar.**

 **The only requirement for an archer is that he/she is not allowed to learn how to use a melee weapon; it is considered an insult to their way of life to do so. In addition to this, all archers are not allowed to join other guilds.**

* * *

 **Now here's the character sheet. This should be good enough to at least get started in the story.**

 **Name:** _Pretty self explanatory. Let's keep it on a first name basis._

 **Sex:** _Self explanatory._ **  
**  
 **Age:** _In the spirit of things, let's keep it as teenagers just like the anime. The maximum age I will allow is about 21._  
 **  
Intended Class:** _Go ahead and invent a class if you'd like. Feel free to use the existing ones as well._  
 **  
Personality:** _Fill in as much as you can here because it will help with my portrayal of your character. Seeing as we can't have a background (at least prior to arriving in Grimgar) section, it's more important than ever to have this filled up._

 **Brief History:** _What did your character go through before coming to join the party? For those who are making a character to serve as part of the initial three, highlight some of the things they did together. This part can be decided a bit later once the cast comes together but bear it in mind. If you are making a character as part of the two who join the survivors, highlight what they were doing before joining, seeing as it's been a few months since they've arrived to Grimgar._  
 **  
Appearance:** _Get as detailed as you'd like with this. It's even more important now because this story will focus a lot on the characters rather than just solely the storyline so if you can describe someone well enough to allow me to see them in animated form on paper, go right ahead and do so._

 **Likes:** _The littler things in life that makes your character happy. Food? Activities? Books to read? You get the picture._  
 **  
Dislikes:** _The opposite of the above._  
 **  
Skills:** _If you've watched the anime and read the novel, you know that this section is pretty wide. In the interest of not creating someone incredibly overpowered (because we all know that Grimgar is not at ALL about the overpowered characters), let's try and keep these to a very limited use per skill. Obviously, new ones can be acquired during the course of the story but for now, let's keep it simple._

 _Haruhiro for example had a skill as simple as **Hit** , which is what he used to knock enemies off balance. It worked better while he was attacking from behind or in stealth but you get the point: it's simple and has a clear and definite use._

 _Since skills are normally acquired by paying the teachers and then learning them, these skills that you choose now are not the full extent of your character's power. Obviously, more can be acquired during the course of the story._

 _In order to keep the theme of a not too experienced party, realistically choose spells that one would learn in only a couple of months._

 **Relationships:** _This can be determined a bit later on but keep this all in mind. This setting is all about the character relationships so as a result, this will likely form the most integral part of the story. You can fill this in once we actually acquire the entirety of the cast but bear it in mind. It would be best to have a small section on everyone that gets selected. Any special relationships can be sorted out on a case by case basis and as I said before, I encourage you all to speak among yourselves to determine some of these. Perhaps you guys may want certain characters to get along a certain way and you may have ideas about that. Talk to your fellow submitters! Let me know what you think could happen!_

 **Relationship With Previous Party:** _Highlight your character's relationship with the aforementioned three characters here. If you are not creating a character who was a part of the initial three, ignore this section in your submission._

 **Notes:** _Highlight anything that doesn't fit in the previous sections here with a bullet format. Perhaps your character has a few habits? Maybe fears? Disabilities? Maybe they have some kind of unique appearance item that you'd like to mention here instead of above? Or perhaps you'd like to specify traits such as being ambidextrous. Little details like that go right here._

* * *

 **EDIT (01/20/2017)**

 **All accepted characters will be listed below.**

 **As of 01/20/2016, ALL character slots have been filled. Thank you all for your creativity and enthusiasm!**

 **If you character appears here as well as your name, I'm going to ask that you keep in contact with your fellow submitters because I will be calling on you all in order to figure out minor arcs or group decisions. I'm not entirely sure of the format just yet, perhaps I'll just do a poll or something or we can all work it out through PMs. For now, I'll list everyone here, along with the name of the person who submitted the character (if provided).**

 **I do apologize in advance if your character does not make the cut.**

 **~ o ~**

 **Submitted by: _Cyberweasel89_**

 **Name:** _Lumina Lightbringer_

 **Sex:** _Female_

 **Age:** _18_

 **Intended Class:** _Hunter_

 **Part Of The Initial Three:** _No_

 **Personality:**

 _Lumina is a very... flawed individual. Lazy and self-centered, she enjoys partaking in heavy hedonism and shows rather shallow views on the world and people. Her class of Hunter was little more than an excuse to stay out of melee range and because of her own obsessive tendencies._

 _Lumina partakes in junk food fairly often but tries to work out when she can to keep her figure. Granted, part of her work out is a good screw. She shows nymphomaniac tendencies, enjoying sex wherever she can get it. She is more of an ethical slut, however, as she only will have one "boyfriend" at a time, albeit this "boyfriend" is based purely on convenience. She's not afraid to ditch her current lover for someone more convenient to screw and screw often, but hypocritically is quite hurt when her current lover chooses to do the same to her. If desperate enough for a good lay, Lumina is not above bedding a particularly attractive woman, but will only do this as a last resort due to her predominant heterosexuality. Despite her clear promiscuity, she objects to being called a slut, regurgitating various memorized feminist spiels of being sex-positive and independent._

 _Lumina tends to obsess over things in the moment and it takes her quite a while to let go of losses or things that interest her. The only reason she stuck with the training of a Hunter was because her obsessive personality disorder meant she didn't want to give up and couldn't let go. As for why the Hunter's Guild persisted her training despite her laziness, well... she was kind of screwing more than one guy in there. She also finds her personal appearance to be very important as she feels she must look attractive at all times._

 _Despite this self-centered hedonism and shallow hypocrisy, Lumina does have her upsides. When presented with the right opportunity to act, she does enjoy helping others. While shallow about who she beds, she does find charm in intellectuals and likes a good personality. However she tends to make snap-judgments about men based on oh, say, whether they have a guitar on their person._

 **Brief History:**

 _Lumina arrived in Grimgar with nothing more than a pair of loose britches and a tank top. After refusing the initial "offers" by a certain transvestite, Lumina shopped from Guild to Guild looking for the right Class for her. It was when bedding a gentleman in a bar in exchange for a meal that he revealed he was a top member of the Hunter's Guild. Figuring she knew a sign when she saw one, she "persuaded" Enrique to get her in good with them._

 _Unimpressed with a simple lay, the Hunters set Lumina up with an initiation in the form of an archery test. Showing just how inept she was at first, a straw arrow cost Lumina an eye, but she persisted. In fact, it was likely this lost eye that caused her to continue to persist with the Hunter training. If she was going to lose an eye just from the initiation, then she was going to make sure this training paid her back for it, god dammit._

 _As part of a final test, Lumina had to snipe down four goblins. This text ended in tragedy when a hobgoblin showed up and spotted her. The resulting skirmish gave Lumina a completely singed left leg when the hobgoblin brandished a torch, but Enrique stepped in and managed to drive the hobgoblin away before it could kill her. Despite the setback, she succeeded her training and is now a skilled, if not at all respected, Hunter._

 **Appearance:**

 _Despite the scars of her training, Lumina remains a beauty. Long golden hair down to her rear, 36-24-36 measurements, DD-cup breasts, healthy Caucasian complexion, a thin and toned figure befitting a dancer, and a cerulean blue left eye. From stray arrows and skirmishes in the wild, Lumina has scars from ordeals and trials. Lumina's left leg shows heavy burn scarring and in fact the nerves are exposed under the bandages she wears on it. Her right eye was gouged out from a stray, misfired arrow, so she wears a leather eyepatch over it. Minor scars from nicks, cuts, and impact wounds dot her otherwise flawless legs, arms, and stomach, though they are small and hard to see unless directly looking. Finally, Lumina is actually missing her right ring finger, which is why she favors her left hand._

 _Befitting the oft-hidden Hunter, Lumina prefers to wear lightweight, mobile, and tight leather armor. While her leather top is tight enough to hold in her bouncing, it shows deep cleavage and bares her midriff. Her bottoms are a set of belted shorts resembling hot pants, while she wears thin leather boots intended for jumping and acrobatics. Her hands are clad in matching leather gloves intended for pulling a bowstring, while her eyepatch is curiously of the same leather due to her liking for a sense of style._

 _While casually dressed, Lumina prefers to wear nothing at all, claiming to be too tired and sore from work (read: lazy and hedonistic) to get dressed. However, if forced to dress casually, she wears a long, loose, off-the-shoulder shirt (and nothing else) around the house but opts for a more stylish ruffled top that bears her shoulders and cleavage and tight britches that accent her perky rear and a pair of heeled sandals if she has to go out. Lumina says she wouldn't be caught dead in a dress or skirt._

 **Likes:** _Lumina is fond of music, parties, games of chance, and loafing about in next to nothing. She loves good food in large amounts and particularly enjoys her mead, which she claims she could drink by the barrel. Besides sleeping and eating, Lumina enjoys a tumble and claims that sex is how she keeps her figure. She does, however, at least have the decency to train when she feels like it and also fletches her own arrows when she can't afford a proper trip to a proper bowyer._

 **Dislikes:** _Lumina dislikes any kind of work that she feels is unnecessary and would even be willing to give one of her teammates a good lay if it meant he (or sometimes she) would do her work for her. She has a bit of a complex about her scarring, but hides it by claiming her scars are proof that she survived her arduous training. She's also often one to talk back to authority figures and very much hates giving up on what she's started. Due to her obsessive personality disorder, she has immense trouble letting go._

 **Skills:**

 **Snapshot** : _A quick shot of the bow that can be launched in a brief second. However, as it involves little draw on the string of the bow or aiming, it has very little power or accuracy behind it._

 **Aimed Shot:** _A strong arrow shot that involves maximum pull on the bowstring and highly precise aiming. While accurate and very penetrating, it requires time to properly set up._

 **Eagle Eye:** _With concentration, the Hunter's eyes can see farther, in finer detail, and even cause a highlight over specific targets. With this, Lumina can identify what plants are safe to eat and enemy tracks, as well as enemies themselves. It also greatly improves her accuracy, but it's taxing to use for extended durations._

 **Dancer's Alacrity:** _With her dancer's figure and light armor, Lumina is skilled at gymnastics and acrobatics and can use this along with maneuvers right out of a brothel that let her flow around her enemies' attacks and jump from vantage point to vantage point._

 **Animal Companion:** _While she hasn't been a Hunter long enough to acquire a wolf yet, her rite of passage is coming up. Like all Hunters, Lumina can easily tame and shares a common will with all wolves._

 **Relationships:** _TBD_

 **Notes:**

 _-Lumina's figure, agile movements, skill and love of sex, and tendency to mention a "club" before realizing she doesn't know what she's talking about imply that she might have been a stripper or exotic dancer in her past life._

 _-Lumina's quite useless as a cook or for cleaning. Best have her stick to scouting, tracking, and long-range suppressive fire. She can identify what plants are safe to eat and get you meat to cook with, but she can't cook or prepare them herself._

 _-Lumina's tight top is designed to prevent bouncing while still being revealing enough for sex appeal. However, it leaves her somewhat sore each day, so she massages her breasts before bed each night._

 _-Lumina wears bandages over her left leg to protect the exposed nerves. When not filled with the adrenaline of a fight, she has a mild limp._

 _-Lumina has some mild problems with depth perception due to her cycloptic nature. Behind her eyepatch is a heavily scarred eye socket. She's trained hard to not let it affect her archery._

 _-While she wouldn't admit this to anyone except a repeated bedmate, Lumina enjoys having her lover trace their fingers along her scars. It's shameful and her scars are ugly, but it... feels good... in an intimate kind of way._

 **~ o ~**

 **Submitted By: _Quake Shatterfist_**

 **Name:** _Theodore Raynes  
_ **Nickname:** _Theo  
_ **Sex:** _Male_  
 **Age:** _18_

 **Part Of Initial Three:** _Yes._

 **Intended Class:** _Shaman_

 **Personality:**

 _Theo is a very relaxed and easy going person who comes across as an airhead at times. Beneath his easygoing nature and smile lies a tormented soul, who often seeks refuge in communicating with spirits to borrow their strength so the past doesn't repeat itself. He likes to keep an eye on everyone and help them out whenever needed. Theo picked this trait up from willingly choosing a support type job and the constant early morning chats with Charlotte, which were mostly pep talks and her letting him know how important he was to the party._

 _Theo is an early riser and likes to spend his time in the morning being productive, helping out with cooking duties, collecting wood, making a warm drink for however is up as well as himself. The time of day where the sun is just rising, brings out a lot of interesting spirits which Theo likes to talk to from time to time or ask for their help in a task. As a result of this, many spirits like speaking with him and as long as he doesn't anger them in any way, they consider him a friend._

 _Whenever Theo finds some spare time, he either checks on the guild for any anomalies in the spirit realm or just finds a comfy place and starts to wood carve or works to make more totems for himself since his totems have a fixed duration. He does make random wooden objects from time to time as well._

 _Theo just enjoy to spend time with his party members as well as having a drink at the local tavern. He is one who doesn't partake in the shenanigans take may occur within the tavern, he just enjoys that festive and relaxing atmosphere the tavern has. He is considered to be an watchful guardian always looking out for the people he cares about and offering them words of advice every now and then._

 _During the night time, if the stars are out and bright, Theo will just find a comfy spot with a drink in hand and just gaze up into the night sky. Other times he will just wander about in his animal form, while in that form he normally takes bizarre routes like jumping from rooftop to rooftop._

 _Every now and then he will reflect on what happened and wonder those what if questions, he does filled conflicted when thinking about if he ever gets the opportunity to purify Neal's corpse would he actually go through with it. His greatest fear would be to relive what happen and lose more people who are close to him._

 **Brief History:**

 _The group of newcomers that Theo was apart of all went their separate ways, leaving him alone and confused in this brand new world. He spent the first day wandering around until hunger started to set in. He saw what appeared to be a firefly just flying around, then off into a random direction. He just had an urge to follow it, it led him straight to the shaman's guild. He was following a spirit without knowing it._

 _After completing his training, he continued to hang around the guild to learn more about the spirit world and occasionally wander out into the city hoping for a chance encounter to join a party._

 _It was both Ray and Charlotte who invited Theo to their party; they believed having an support type class like the shaman would be beneficial for the party. Even though their early attempts out in the wild were tough and challenging. With the guidance from Ray, they quickly got their act together._

 _One moment that would remain in Theo's memory is the time that the party went into the wild and Charlotte noticed the lack of animals. Getting Theo to ask assistance from the spirits and other shamans about the matter, they learned of an strong water spirit rampaging. With words of encouragement from the party, Theo was able to calm the water spirit._

 _The water spirit would later reveal her name to be Umiko, taking the form of a young girl whenever she showed herself to Theo. He would go on to form a strong bond with her, making use of her power whenever he needed it. It was one of the few recorded cases where a spirit as strong as she was binded willingly to a shaman's totem. Umiko_ _proved to be very helpful in later encounters however, Neal took notice of her. Due to his greedy habits, Neal stole the totem from Theo, hoping it would bring a lot of money if sold._

 _One fateful day, the party was caught in a battle with kobolds and it would be that day where Theo's world truly came crashing down. Due to Neal stealing his water totem, he no longer had the means to call on Umiko's power and as a result, the party suffered casualties, including Charlotte and Ray. Fully believing the encounter to be his own fault and believing that he should've been stronger, Theo manifested a complete shapeshift into a panther and fled for his life along with the other two survivors. While fleeing, Theo was shot by a villager in the collarbone, which is how he received his signature scar. This day would continue to haunt Theo, but also gave him even more of a reason to dedicate himself to supporting his allies._

 **Appearance:**

 _Standing 5'8" tall with an athletic build, he has short spiky dirty brown hair that curves from right to left, with emerald green eyes. He has a large puncture wound scar just below his right collarbone when he was shot by an arrow while in his animal form._

 _His adventuring attire consists of long sleeve black shirt with a sleeveless long tailed vest green. A large blue sash tied around the waist with knot to the left side. A brown cloak with a blue underside that sits over the left shoulder and black pants with brown adventuring boots for finish of the look. The cloak, sash and vest have tribal markings in darker shades._

 _Around his wrists are leather gauntlets with the left gauntlet having Theo's special nature totem connected to a chain wrapped around it. He also has a couple of pouches attached to the sash with contain the rest of his totems._

 _His casual attire is consists of an long sleeve shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows or an tank top with his usual adventure pants and boots._

 _For sleepwear he just sleeps in shorts with no shirt._

 **Likes:** _Communicating with the spirits or other shamans in the spirit world, wandering about as an panther, whittling or wood carving, helping out his friends when they need it, having a good team soaking in the atmosphere at the tavern._

 **Dislikes:** _Talking about what happened to Ray and Charlotte, people tampering with his totems. People upsetting the spirits, anyone who badmouths their party and members. People close to him being reckless and making stupid decisions._

 **Skills:**

 _Theo's totems are wooden discs with runic carvings that symbolize the element of the spirit it is bound to. He chose this shape of totem because he found it the most fun to carve. These totems have a duration instead of the usual condition of being used until the breaking point. He learned to do this because he dislikes the idea of overusing the spirit's power and potentially hurting it. The duration is shown by a crack that starts from one side and slowly travels to the other depending on the power of spell used, which allows his party to see when he is going to run out of time with a particular totem. He specializes in Nature magic but does have other elemental totems. Unlike other shamans, Theo chose not to learn any offensive spells, instead opting to dedicate himself to supporting his party._

 **Entanglement** _\- Placing an nature totem on the ground and saying an chant to invoke the nature spirits contain within to summon and grow vines to ensnare and entanglement the enemies that are in range._

 **Enhancement** _\- Invoking the spirit contained in a nature totem to enhance an attribute of an ally or himself, usually to bolster strength. It can be cast on multiple people but requires multiple totems to do so. The more people Theo maintains it on, the more quickly it drains his stamina as well as the larger the strain on the totems._

 **Shapeshift** _\- Invoking the spirit of the panther he bonded with, Theo can shapeshift into an ethereal panther. Shapeshift is considered truly mastered once the shaman can become a fully real animal as it indicates mastery of the bond._

 **Dreaming Dust** _\- Invoking the spirit contained in a nature totem to create an spore cloud to put the opponents asleep._

 **Relationships:** _TBD_

 **Relationships With Previous Party:  
**  
 **Ray** \- _Theo was always grateful to Ray for inviting him to be a part of the party. Theo considered Ray to be like a brother to him and when Ray found out about Theo's morning chats with Charlotte, he would ask Theo for help whenever Ray found himself in Charlotte's bad books._

 **Charlotte** _\- Theo was good friends with Charlotte and they would spend a lot of time just talking about anything in the mornings. She would also request Theo to check with the spirits if she noticed anything weird. Theo never had any romantic feelings for her, to him Charlotte was just a really close and irreplaceable friend._

 **Neal** \- _Theo never got along with Neal, He always kept an watchful eye on him, even invoking some of his spirits to watch him or ensure that the girls of the party where safe to bathe. Theo is glad to hear his fate considering that Theo believes that if Neal didn't steal his totem that contained a strong water spirit before that incident, he could have saved Charlotte with the spell Water Prism_

 **Notes:**

 _\- While escaping from the event that took Ray, Charlotte and Neal's lives, Theo managed to achieve a complete panther form which resulted in him being shot by another human passing by. That was the only time he could achieve that form_

 _-Theo likes to keep himself busy mainly to distract himself from remembering what happened and those what if questions._

 _-When he wanders around the people he has an habit of being shapeshifted while exploring the town._

 _\- He is a rather chilled individual who is hard to annoy. He is also rather protective of the people in his party._

 **~ o ~**

 **Submitted By: _Jen Jen Yuki_**

 **Name:** _Minato_

 **Age:** _20_

 **Sex:** _Male_

 **Part Of Initial Three:** _No_

 **Intended Class:** _Samurai. Minato has trained under the Gi, Yu and Jin schools thus far._

 **Personality:**

 _Minato used to be quite a joyous man, normally being the one to lighten any conversation with a casual joke or making a fool of himself to help make the situation less serious. However, after having been a part of several parties, Minato has become a significantly more soft spoken individual. He rarely makes comments unless it is relevant to the situation at hand as well as usually having these comments be very blunt and realistic._

 _His disturbing past haunts him, which caused him to dedicate himself to mastering as many tenants of Bushido as he possible can in order to find peace within his soul. One of the few people who have the chance to see him without his stoic persona active his is older sister, Hwei. When around her, Minato was do just about anything she asks of him and she is one of the very few people that he does not refer to with an honorific. Minato loves his sister and their relationship has been one of the few remaining things that keeps Minato tethered to his humanity. He will protect her with his life, without a second thought._

 _Despite being trained in the Gi school, Minato is only selectively kind, often only truly showing his encouraged kindness to those he believes truly deserve it. After completing his training in the Jin school, Minato became a pacifist whenever he fights any opponent who is human, holding back in order to preserve human life. The Jin school also caused him to develop the habit of actively watching out for any party he happens to be a part of. After completing his training in the Yu school, Minato developed a virtually unbreakable sense of will and he will fight fearlessly no matter the odds presented to him. He cares very little for his own life and significantly more about others, a trait that simultaneously makes him a hero and a tragic martyr._

 _Beneath his calm and quiet exterior also lies a great rage. Though he doesn't usually lose his composure, Minato hates kobolds with an intense passion. His fuse is long, but kobolds seem to reduce this fuse to only a few centimeters. He however, will never seek conflict within the group, choosing to back down if he knows the situation will only get worse if he expresses and supports his opinion. Once angered, he becomes completely remorseless and will kill anything in his way. His blind rage is one of the reasons why Hwei makes it a habit to go with him on ventures that involve kobolds as she knows what he's capable of when enraged. That trademark kindness all but vanishes when he loses his temper._

 _Finally, Minato developed a deep phobia over the course of losing parties as well as seeing his sister get severely injured. He is terrified of dying alone and even though he spends a lot of his time in isolation from others, he almost never manages to sleep soundly unless his sister is with him. In addition to this, Minato never leaves town with a party unless he himself has checked everything to ensure they're fully ready._

 **Brief** **History:**

 _Minato arrived to Grimgar in a rather unusual manner: with a beautiful girl laying right next to him. Once she came to, Minato decided to stay close to her due to her promising leadership skills which she demonstrated by bringing a party together in less than a month. After being sent off by everyone's favorite transvestite, Minato began his samurai training alongside Hwei. After noting their resemblances, both in appearance and in overall fighting habits, the grandmaster of the Gi school had a shaman delve into their souls to find any sort of connection. The ritual caused Minato to have a faint flashback of being with Hwei as children. Though he had no idea where they were beforehand, it was clear that there was something between the two. Upon completing the ritual, he discovered she was indeed his sister._

 _The siblings were just about inseparable, only parting ways when they had to train or venture out with their respective parties. In order to speed up the training time for each school, they ensured they attended differing ones and passed on whatever they learned to the other. However, during this time, Minato would join his first party. Just after completing his training at the Gi school, Minato ventured into a dungeon with his first party. It was comprised of a Paladin, a Thief, a Mage and a Priest. His job was to protect the Priest, who he eventually came to know as Jethro. They formed a strong bond, with Jethro often times offering insightful advice to Minato for handling his training. He continued to work with this party diligently and while he was out in the dungeons, Hwei continued to make a name for herself among the samurai as she made it her mission to become the first female to train under every school._

 _One day, when the party ventured into a dungeon, they were ambushed by a several groups of goblins, each lead by a hobgoblin. Though they all fought valiantly, all but Jethro and Minato perished in the battle. Knowing that Minato would never run for his life while he was alive, Jethro shoved him off a waterfall and into a lake where he survived...but Jethro perished. Now without a party in addition to having severe survivor's guilt, Minato considered giving up his training. It was only because of his sister's words and encouragement that he continued on to complete the Jin school's training. Now an experienced samurai, Minato joined another group with his sister at his side. By this time, Hwei had completed training at five of the schools and was quickly becoming known as one of the greatest prodigies the samurai had ever seen._

 _The party's mission was to make it to the third level of the Kobold mines, due to very valuable minerals being there. Seeing as one of the party members picked up mining as a profession, they believed this would be a chance to make a great sum of money. Hwei and Minato's job was to keep the party's two Priests safe. The venture was successful at first but the party they worked with to get that far betrayed them, luring them into a battle to take the minerals for themselves. The Warrior and Hunter were both killed in the ensuing battle with each Priest severely wounded, but the siblings managed to defeat all of their opponents with Hwei taking an arrow to her right arm. Though four of them had survived, one of the Priests was on death's door and the other was crippled to the point of being unable to move at all. The siblings would stay and do their best for the Priests...only for them both to pass away during the night and come back as undead. After escaping with the minerals, Hwei was taken to the Priest's chapel due to her injuries while Minato blamed himself once again for what happened to her._

 _It was then that Minato decided what he wanted his role to be: a protector. After urging his sister to stay within the city and giving her all of the minerals that were supposed to be his, Minato went to the Yu school and proceeded to become the fastest graduate the school had ever seen. After donning his heavy armor for the first time, Minato tried to join the Meiyo school. However, due to his lack of feats, he was rejected though the grandmaster commended him, something that was rarely seen of the Meiyo samurai who considered themselves the best of the best. After having survived two battles that were supposed to mean his end, Minato now seeks to join another party, now with renewed resolve and the means to protect them with everything he has. He also wishes to see his sister's dream of completing all of the schools in the hopes of one day opening her own._

 **Appearance:**

 _Standing at 5' 9", Minato has a very toned build though he isn't particularly large. He has long, dark brown hair that he normally keeps tied in a ponytail that reaches down to his lower back. He has dark brown eyes and a fair complexion, a few shades darker than porcelain. He is clearly of Japanese descent, with his sharp facial features and unmistakable accent. He has a few scars on his torso and back from all the training he's been through in the past._

 _Normally when going into battle, Minato dons a full set of traditional samurai armor with the exception of the full helmet, which he replaces with a headband. The headband was given to him by the grandmaster of the Yu school and it is something he never forgets to wear when he is going out into the dungeon or wilderness. His armor is dark red in color and has a noticeable lack of padding due to his preference of having more free movement._

 _When simply walking around the town or casually strolling, Minato wears a dark grey sleeveless shirt under his training fatigues, which are crimson. He wears leather sandals and never leaves home without his talisman, which was given to him by the Gi school to show that he has completed their training. The talisman has no magical power, only representing the tradition of all students of the Gi school should wear the pendant to show that they are graduates._

 _When sleeping, Minato does not wear a shirt usually and has long black leggings. If it is cold, he will wear a sleeveless shirt in addition to it._

 **Likes:** _Training, going out on walks, meditating, sparring with other samurai, helping those in need, caligraphy, drinking tea._

 **Dislikes:** _Seeing conflict between party members, **Kobolds** , selfish behavior, overconfidence, arrogance, feeling helpless._

 **Skills:**

 _Though he has trained at three schools, Minato usually uses techniques he learned from the Yu school, which prioritize serving as a frontline fighter. Though he is not as great of a wall as that of a Warrior, Paladin or Knight, he is more than capable of holding his own against multiple opponents. Unlike usual members of the Yu school, Minato carries a wakizashi in addition to a standard katana in order for him to switch to non-lethal techniques should the situation arise. He was taught wakizashi techniques during his time at the Jin school which are meant to not kill the opponent. Minato relies on his armor and his ability to parry blows in order to keep attention away from his vulnerable comrades._

 **Dragon Stance-** _Taking a defensive stance, the samurai holds their katana and adjusts their body to reveal as little weakpoints as possible. It is a two handed stance which abandons speed for defensive advantages as well as enabling the samurai to execute the Yu school's various techniques. Dragon Stance can only be performed with a full length katana, seeing as the blade needs to be long enough to realistically block incoming attacks. It is the signature stance of the Yu school._

 **Inner Focus-** _By focusing on the situation at hand and abandoning the intent to take offensive actions, the samurai becomes better able to defend against oncoming attacks. While in this state, the samurai focuses all of his strength into blocking oncoming strikes. He becomes able to parry blows much more effectively in addition to having the stability to hold back powerful ones._

 **Dragon's Bite-** _A slow but powerful swing of the katana. The slash has astonishing power behind it and it is capable of breaking through most conventional weapons in addition to knocking the senses and wind out of anyone unfortunate enough to receive the blow. This technique is normally used to stun a defending opponent out of his guard, though it has other applications. Considered a technique that all Yu school samurai must master._

 **Martial Arts Expertise-** _All samurai are trained in martial arts before they complete their swordsmanship training and after training in three different schools, Minato is quite a veteran at it. He is well versed in Judo, Taido and Kudo. He is proficient enough to spar with grandmasters and though he has never defeated any of them, he's been commended for his fast learning as well as his particularly strong blows. Minato uses martial arts to uphold the Jin school's teachings, never using a sword to fight the opponent unless he has to._

 **Herbal Knowledge-** _Because of the Jin school's teachings, Minato was required to learn how to brew herbal remedies from the land in order to care for the sick. He knows how to make herbal teas as well as medicines to help fight sickness in addition to numbing pain from injuries. He hasn't learned enough to be considered good at it, though he has been commended for making particularly delicious tea._

 **Relationships:** _TBD_

 **Relationship With Previous Party:**

 _Minato met Neal and Charlotte several times in the past. Neal tried to persuade Minato to work as a mercenary for his own personal gain but he was declined. Minato met Charlotte one day at the tavern; she recognized him due to his sister's rising popularity in addition to knowing that he was one of the few samurai who chose to train at multiple schools. Charlotte offered him a chance to join the party, but he politely declined after having lost his first party only a week prior to meeting her. They were on good terms and upon hearing of her death, he was greatly disheartened as he liked her kind nature._

 **Notes:**

 _\- Minato is ambidextrous, but prefers to wield his wakizashi in his right hand.  
\- Minato loves practicing caligraphy in his spare time.  
\- Minato knows how to play a flute. He is said to have a natural talent with wind instruments.  
\- Minato dislikes sweet food, preferring savory just about every time. The only exception to this is chocolate.  
\- Minato and his sister spar often. He has never managed to defeat his sister, both because she is **much** more skilled than he is in addition to the fact that he can't bear to hit her.  
\- Minato's favorite color is red.  
\- Minato has a habit of sleeping with his katana in hand whenever he is sleeping upright. This is due to his paranoia of being attacked while in a vulnerable state so he keeps his weapon handy to react to such a circumstance.  
\- Minato likes brewing tea and will offer anyone he considers a friend some.  
\- Unlike his sister, Minato has lived his life dedicated to the samurai's code. As a result of this, he's pure. Hwei makes it a habit of teasing him about everything, whether it be drinking, women or simply doing something wrong.  
\- If it wasn't already made clear, Minato **hates** Kobolds._

 **~ o ~**

 **Name:** _Seraiya_

 **Age:** _20_

 **Sex:** _Female_

 **Intended Class:** _Paladin_

 **Part Of Initial Three:** _Yes_

 **Personality:**

 _The definition of cheery, charming and chirpy, Seraiya is a charismatic woman who adores making others happy. Perhaps a little too happy for her fellow Paladins, she is right at home when helping others with whatever they may need. This behavior was evident even before she joined the Paladin's guild and her unrivaled kindness earned her the nickname, "The Shining Maiden"._

 _Seraiya was spared a great deal of the hardships of Grimgar due to her initial party being very cohesive. As a result, she's quite naïve in comparison to other newcomers. Upon completing her training at the Paladin's guild, Seraiya developed a passion for serving as a beacon to others. After her party decided to go their separate ways due to different dreams being sought after, Seraiya dedicated herself to her guild, becoming a great leader and a shining example of what a Paladin could truly be._

 _She's very easy to get along with, though she will not under any circumstance break any of her tenants and anyone who doesn't acknowledge this will quickly find themselves on the receiving end of her cold shoulder._

 _Despite her rather happy and cheerful nature, she's very shy around men due to spending almost all of her time with her fellow classmates, who were also all female. It was only upon graduating to a full fledged Paladin that she began to meet men. She's nowhere near as confident around attractive men, though she manages to maintain her happiness through the reddened face and tendency to shy away._

 _In battle, Seraiya trades her cheer for determination as she naturally has great leadership skills. She's very observant and is capable of coming up with plans on the fly according to the situation. Because she spent some time observing other jobs, she knows what most of them are capable of, which helps her formulate plans even more effectively._

 _Finally, Seraiya does have one single fear: total darkness. Even though she can sleep fine at night (provided others are around her), she completely breaks down when she's lost in darkness, to the point of becoming a statue of fear if the anxiety is great enough. It is for this reason that Seraiya takes a torch or lantern with her whenever she ventures out of the city. No exceptions. She will also never sleep alone if she's at her guildhouse, normally going into one of her friends' rooms and getting comfortable there._

 **Appearance:**

 _Holding true to her moniker of "The Shining Maiden", Seraiya is an absolute beauty. She has long, goldenrod hair that she keeps in a neat ponytail, with bangs that hang over her eyes. She has light skin, just a shade or two lighter than cream, and radiant sapphire eyes._

 _She has an excellent figure, maintained by all of the training she does with her guildmates. She's known for her slim, yet curvy body which she somehow maintains despite her ravenous eating habits. She's very well toned, though she doesn't exhibit much muscle when she's all naturale. Her breasts are halfway between a D and DD, while her rear is enough to fill your hands but not take attention away from her face._

 _When going into battle or a dungeon, she wears her standard Paladin's armor though she often forgoes the cape, believing it to be a vulnerability. She uses a mace with a one handed shield, bearing the symbol of the guild. She does not wear a helmet because she dislikes how much it messes up her hair._

 _When casually strolling, she wears a green long sleeved sweater with blue pants. She has a habit of pinning the right side of her bangs up as well. Sometimes, she will let her hair completely out as well._

 _When sleeping, she keeps a sweater on and will alternate between no pants and pants depending on how cold it is._

 **Brief History:**

 _Seraiya arrived to Grimgar as a clueless mess. However, she quickly found a group of friends who she stuck with for a long time. After trying for the Warrior's Guild, her friend Tia suggested for her to try out for the Paladin's guild, due to her natural ability to lead._

 _She would then join the guild and train diligently, making a name for herself as the beauty who donned the iconic symbol of the Paladin. After completing her training, she proceeded to help her friends complete many successful runs into the dungeon. With her charisma as well as her reputation, her group rose in fame and popularity until they decided to go their separate ways to pursue dreams of their own._

 _Seraiya then met Ray one day in the tavern when she was delivering a shipment of milk for a friend who hurt his leg. Ray begged her to join the party as he adored how well she could inspire others with her mere presence. She bashfully accepted and starting adventuring with them a week later._

 _However, in a heated battle, she was injured and too wounded to realistically continue. After getting patched up enough to make the trip back to the town on horseback, she bid Ray farewell...unknowingly for the last time. Theo's return without the other four members spoke enough for Seraiya to shed tears for the first time since her arrival in Grimgar._

 _She dedicated herself to becoming as strong of a warrior as she could, delving deeply into light magic in order to ensure that she stood as the primary shield to her party._

 _Now, she seeks to reform the group alongside her friend Theo in the hopes of making it to The Order Of Silverite, where she could put her name in the books as one of the greatest paladins to ever live._

 **Likes:** _Food of all kinds, singing, swimming, drinking tea, tending to her horse, helping others._

 **Dislikes:** _Dark magic, ignorance, darkness, being hungry, arrogance._

 **Skills:**

\- **Consecration:** _The Paladin covers an area in holy light, bolstering his strength and endurance while he remains within it. In addition, the area will naturally weaken undead and greatly deter dark magic of any kind._

\- **Blinding Burst:** _Imbuing his weapon with light magic, the Paladin swings it with great force, creating a blinding flash upon striking the target. The energy will then burst forth, stunning and blinding anything looking directly at it. In addition, the one struck by the blow will take additional damage if it is undead or is associated with dark magic._

\- **Shield Of Faith:** _By chanting a powerful prayer, the Paladin can transform his shield into a nigh-impenetrable bulwark. The shield will glow brightly and will repel most attacks, especially magical attacks. When the chant is complete, the shield will become significantly heavier, forcing the Paladin to drop his weapon to hold it up. The Paladin is defenseless until the spell wears off._

\- **Heaven's Favor:** _The Paladin is capable of a limited degree of healing. By chanting a short prayer and touching the person he wishes to heal, the Paladin can mend minor wounds. The prayer works much more effectively if the person touched has a connection to the God Of Light, making the Paladin a potent healer for Priests who are tired. The Paladin cannot use this spell on himself._

 **Relationships:** _TBD_

 **Relationship With Previous Party:** _Seraiya got along well with Ray, Charlotte and Theo. She couldn't stand Neal most times, but she didn't treat him badly, only dismissively. She's good friends with Theo and sees him as a valuable ally. She was given a leather satchel by Charlotte, which she uses to carry her personal items._

 **Notes:**

 _\- Many Paladins make bets against Seraiya on her oath of celibacy. Even though she's sworn it, everyone believes that it only takes a single man's charms to make her come back to the guild to have it overlooked. Considering how attractive she looks, they believe that time could be approaching soon._

 _\- Seraiya is left handed._

 _\- Seraiya has a ravenous appetite, but only when she can afford to eat in excess._

 _\- Seraiya's favorite pass time is tending to her hose, Koila. She met Koila during her second week of training. He immediately took a liking to her and it only took a single attempt for her to break him in. Koila treats Seraiya with genuine affection and will actively protect her if he senses she's in danger. However, he rarely lets men approach her, often running at them and even kicking some._

 _\- Seraiya wasn't initially interested in learning light magic, relying on her leadership skills and swift thinking to win the day, However, after losing Ray and Charlotte, she dedicated herself to learning the art of combat. She has little in battle experience as a result of this due to her rarely ever having to fight an extended battle._

 _\- Seraiya's favorite color is red._

 _\- Seraiya is gawked at by many men, but she largely ignores most of them. It's rare for her to speak to any men at all in fact, with Theo being one of the few notable exceptions, in addition to the guildmaster._

 _\- Seraiya is a terrible cook, though she has always wanted to learn._

 _\- Seraiya feels insecure about her body. Though she knows she's fit and well built, she doesn't see why men gawk at her so much and when complimented for her body, she often blushes and can't respond confidently. This is especially true if she finds the man to be attractive. She can take compliments from women just fine however._

 _\- Seraiya has a tendency to refer to people by their title instead of their name._

 _\- Seraiya will never admit it, but she hasn't the slightest clue of how to please a man. In fact, she's never even been kissed before._

 _\- Seraiya wants to have children one day in her lifetime and wants at least one daughter._

 _\- Seraiya is fascinated with the Samurai's lifestyle and can be found in the library reading up on it. She would likely join a school herself if her Paladin vows didn't forbid her from doing so. She's also always wanted to learn martial arts._

 **~ o ~**

 **Name:** _Raven Jackson_

 **Age: _16_**

 **Sex:** _Male_

 **Intended Class:** _Mage_

 **Part Of Initial Three:** _No_

 **Personality:**

 _Raven is a very damaged young man. Afraid to speak his mind, prone to flinching at loud noises, shying away from being touched. He keeps his head down and tries not draw attention to himself. Due to his conditioning, he likes to be of use to people and hates disappointing or displeasing others. He usually doesn't correct those who assume he's a girl because he's afraid they'll beat him for it._

 **Brief History:**

 _Raven landed in Grimgar a nervous wreck. Rather than joining up with a Guild like most people, Raven was picked up by a group of slavers operating just outside town. Kidnapped because they thought he was a girl, they felt that his androgynous looks could still service clients of a particular taste. He did whatever he could to avoid being killed by his captors, many of them things he's not proud of. Cooking, cleaning, he serviced them any way he could. He was eventually bought by a party of successful adventurers who used him as a pack mule and servant. At this point, Raven had no Class, and this was likely what caused this party's death but spared him._

 _It was during a battle with orcs that this party met their end. Raven was spared because not only did he not fight them, but they dubbed him no threat. He made his way back to town where he collapsed by pure chance in front of the Mage's Guild. They took him in and nursed him back to health. Despite concern for his psychological health, they trained him in the art of being a Mage._

 _Raven has Party-hopped ever since then, with most Parties not willing to put up with him for his timid, nervous nature. While he hopes to find people that accepted him, he's not optimistic about it._

 **Appearance:**

 _Raven is extremely androgynous. Short at just five feet tall and with dark, ebony skin, Raven has jet-black hair tied in puff dreadlocks and amber-colored eyes. His face is elegant and feminine, accented with thin eyebrows and a button nose. His figure is slender with pronounced hips and a round, perky, heart-shaped rear. His legs are definitely his best feature, being long, thin, smooth, and shapely._

 _Raven usually wears a pure white robe. It leaves a bit of his upper chest exposed and he usually wears the hood up to hide his face. It is tied at the waist and only comes down midway to his knees, giving the impression he's wearing a mini skirt. He wears white tights under it ending in black sandals, while his arms are covered by sleeves that flare out at the wrist. He wears fingerless black gloves and usually has a large pack on his back to carry the party's supplies. His weapon of choice in battle is a large tome. When casting spells, he holds it open and against his chest with his left hand. The pages flip and glow while he weaves the rune in the air with his right hand._

 _When around town in casual public settings, Raven wears a pair of black short shorts that come down to mid-thigh, a white camisole-like tank top, and some black flip-flops. When around home or relaxing at the end of the day, Raven chooses to wear a sweater-shirt that hangs off one of his shoulders and comes down to barely cover his pelvis. Raven needs corrective lenses for his nearsightedness and part of his trouble with finding a party is that funds must go to their upkeep if he wants to be able to see. His glasses frequently get dirty and he often has to resort to a back-up pair of glasses with a crack in the left lens._

 **Likes:** _Cooking, cleaning, sewing, reading books, being useful to a party, peace and quiet, being alone_

 **Dislikes:** _Performing sexual favors to stay alive, being mistaken for a girl, correcting people about his gender, having to hurt people, carrying supplies, pain, being alone_

 **Skills:**

 **Magic Missile:** _Arcane element spell. The most basic of spells taught to all Mages. A ball of light about the size of a fist that bursts from the end of the mage's rune to hit a target in front of them._

 **Ring of Fire:** _Fire element spell. Summons three fire balls that rapidly spin around the caster for several seconds, repelling melee fighters._

 **Icicle Assault:** _Ice element spell. Summons a jagged icicle right under a target._

 **Blustery Gust:** _Wind element spell. Calls a gust of wind to hit a row of enemies from the side, potentially knocking them over. Can't be cast indoors._

 **Thunderbolt:** _Lightning element spell. Summons a bolt of lighting to hit an enemy from above. Can't be cast indoors._

 **Relationships:** _TBD_

 **Notes:**

 _\- Raven is extremely grateful to any party willing to accept him, especially since he needs them to keep enemies off him while he casts spells. He tries to make it up to them by cooking for them, cleaning, mending their clothes, and carrying their supplies for them._

 _\- Raven's behavior and gender norm issues indicate he might have lasting psychological trauma from being raped or abused in his previous life._

 _\- If not obvious from his skin tone, hairstyle, and name, Raven is black. Or, at least, he was back in his previous life._

 _\- If not obvious from his wardrobe and androgyny, Raven is a trap._

 **~ o ~**

 **Name:** _Rina St. Germaine_

 **Age:** _18_

 **Sex:** _Female_

 **Intended Class:** _Priest (Pure Healing)_

 **Part Of Initial Three:** _Yes_

 **Personality:**

 _Rina initially started out as a helpful individual who jumped at any chance to prove herself in addition to helping out anyone she considered a friend. She used to take great pride in her healing skills as well as her uncanny ability to tell when something bad was going to happen but...then Grimgar decided to slap her in the face and give her one hell of a wakeup call._

 _Initially part of Ray and Charlotte's group, Rina was often the joy of the party alongside Seraiya but once the group almost met their end at the hands of the goblins, Rina's attitude took a complete 180._

 _Where she was happy and eager to assist, she now only selectively does so. She also got a lot more cold-hearted in her outlook on others, seeing the world as a merciless hellhole that doesn't take pity on any individual, even those who are considered a cut above all others. Needless to say, it has influenced her habits as a Priest; it has caused her to only want to heal someone when it is a serious injury and she will outright refuse any minor injuries unless the party is completely safe from harm._

 _Outside of battle, Rina speaks very rarely, still being haunted by the severe PTSD that she suffered upon seeing Ray and Charlotte die. She's built a tremendous number of walls around herself in order to prevent something like that from happening again and if it wasn't for Seraiya's encouragement, she'd likely have joined the Chapel as a town healer instead of going out into dungeons._

 _Around Seraiya, Rina exhibits a very vulnerable side. She's very indecisive and often needs opinions to make any sort of decision that doesn't involve her healing skills. She's also very shy, especially when Seraiya tries to introduce her to other people. Beneath all the ice, fear and pain however...lies a warm heart that truly wishes to help others. The only task needed to be done now...is to thaw it._

 **Appearance:**

 _Much like her beauty of a friend Seraiya, Rina is also quite the looker._

 _She has long, chocolate hair that she often keeps tied to one side. Her hair is one of her most distinguishing features as it reaches down to her lower back and she takes great pride in maintaining it._

 _She has dirty gold eyes, a sharp nose and a surprisingly gentle smile. She has tan skin, perhaps just three shades shy of completely tan. She darkens quite easily in sunlight as well, which restores the shades to fully tan._

 _She stands at 5' 8" and weighs 120lbs. She's not muscular, but somehow manages to maintain an excellent figure, having one comparable to that of Seraiya's but with less curves. She has breasts that lie between D and DD, leaning more towards D. She has enough of an ass to have something to grab onto, but is not at all something someone would have their eyes caught by._

 _When going into battle, she wears the standard Priest's garb except she had hers modified to be red stripes instead of blue. She also wears a long cloak sometimes, which covers her head right down to her calves. This cloak also has enough slack to allow her to pull up a mask on her face that covers everything but her eyes and some of her nose._

 _When not in battle, she's usually seen wearing a thick long sleeved sweater with a skirt that reaches about half way down her calves. She always wears her Priest boots unless she's in a house, where she removes them out of habit._

 _When sleeping, she exchanges the skirt for long pants and is one of the few times where she doesn't wear her boots._

 **Brief History:**

 _Rina arrived to Grimgar by herself. She had no idea why, but she was compelled to play a supportive role. After roaming the town for a few weeks, she decided to become a Priest after running into her eventual best friend, Seraiya, who was training as a Paladin at the time. The two instantly became friends due to Seraiya's encouraging aura, which helped Rina deal with a lot of her insecurities. She completed her Priest training but unlike other Priests, she chose to specialize solely in healing others. She did this because she knew that the day would come when she and Seraiya would go out into dungeons together and she wanted to dedicate herself fully to keeping her party alive, putting all her faith in them to protect her._

 _Rina was the first person to join Ray's party, followed shortly by Seraiya and Theo. Originally, Ray picked her up to assist them with a single run into the dungeon but upon proving herself a very capable healer, Ray asked her to become a permanent part of the family. Once she accepted, Seraiya joined as well and soon after, the shaman Theo did as well._

 _The six of them got along well, though Rina never took a liking to Neal due to him stealing some of her money in the past. However, everything would change in one particular dungeon run. Neal was killed and Rina ended up using a lot of her stamina in trying to save him. Backed into a corner, Ray urged for her to escape, especially since Seraiya had already taken a trip back after Rina had failed to heal her enough to continue on._

 _Rina refused at first because she believed she could still save everyone but upon attempting to heal Ray from an injury and seeing it fail, she was horrified to know that he could be right. It took tremendous willpower, but Rina left them all to die after Theo made his escape by shifting into a Panther. She made it back to the Priest's Chapel and spent all of her time learning as much as she could concerning healing, as well as attempting to forgive herself for making what she believed to be the mistake that cost her friends their lives._

 _Now, she continues to train but with Seraiya's encouraging words, she's convinced herself to join one more party...but a lot's going to change in her approach to everything concerning her role._

 **Likes:** _Spicy food, reading, listening to musical instruments, cooking, meditating, swimming.  
_

 **Dislikes:** _Stupidity, overly zealous individuals, cockiness, lack of planning._

 **Skills:**

 **Light of Protection** : _A support spell that enhances physical ability, resistance, and speeds up the body's natural healing process. It can be cast on up to six people and lasts for 30 minutes. The hexagon symbol of the God of Light floats over the recipients wrists for the duration of the spell. A noted effect is that the recipients of the spell feel lighter._

 **Heal:** _Unlike Cure, Heal doesn't require the Priest to hold their hand close over the injury. It can be used to heal a wounded person from a distance, and is effective for injuries anywhere on the body._

 **Purify:** _A spell that turns the undead, reducing them to ash. The spell is short ranged, making it dangerous to cast unless the target is immobilized._

 **Renewal:** _A light spell that heals a wounded person periodically over time. The Priest can have up to three active Renewals at a time, but maintaining them can be draining. While Renewal is active on a person, they will glow with a pale light. This spell is particularly effective at healing light wounds, but does not do as well with heavy ones._

 **Relationships:** _TBD_

 **Relationship With Previous Party:** _Rina got along with Ray the best of the three, though she did enjoy Charlotte's company. Charlotte was the one who taught Rina to cook, which is something she takes pride in doing even to this day. Ray was the one who inspired her further to become a better healer as he always let her know how valuable she was to the party. She didn't get along with Neal, due to him hitting on her a lot in addition to stealing some of her money on a few occasions._

 **Notes:**

 _\- Rina is an avid cook and is particularly good at making spicy food.  
\- Rina is often mistaken as Seraiya's sister, due to how inseparable they are. Some even think they're a couple, though they both deny this openly.  
\- Rina does not like anyone who takes the Thief job, due to Neal. She considers all Thieves to be ruffians who need to be disciplined.  
\- Rina has a deep respect for the Paladin way of life, due to it being similar to her own in addition to what the Paladin stands for: being a beacon of hope.  
\- Rina enjoys swimming and it is one of the very few things that helps her relieve stress.  
\- Rina carries a staff, but never uses it for melee combat due to her dedication to the healing arts. She uses it primarily as a focus.  
\- Rina loves animals and is surprisingly good with them.  
\- Rina is left-handed.  
\- Rina has read a lot of books in the library, her most recent one being a book on the Samurai due to her curiosity of why Seraiya is so fascinated with them.  
\- Rina is sometimes called "Ice Queen" due to how she rejects every man that makes a move on her._

* * *

 **You guys submitted some very creative ideas and I thank each and every one of you for your ideas.**

 **Now we can get this show on the road!**


	2. Prologue: Left Behind

**(A/N): Just a note for everyone who's been selected, if you see your name on there, I'm encouraging you all to communicate with your fellow submitters because the time will come where you guys will decide on arcs for this story. It won't happen for a while, but I just thought I'd throw it out there so you guys can start thinking of things.**

 **Arcs include arcs specifically for your characters, such as resolving their inner demons or problems they still haven't dealt with that still haunt them.**

 **Arcs also include any shipping you guys may want to happen. Keep your fellow submitters in the loop and let me know what you guys would like to see.**

 **Let's get the ball rolling!**

* * *

 **Prologue: Left Behind**

 _"When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago,"_

 _\- Friedrich Nietzsche_

 **~ o ~**

 _"Looks like this is the place," said Ray._  
 _"…Where do we even start?" asked Charlotte._

 _Neal rolled his eyes and shook his head._

 _"Start asking around…don't make me do it for you cause you already know I'm not one of those friendly types,"_

 _Ray rolled his eyes as the Thief made his way towards the bar._

 _"Same old Neal..." sighed Charlotte._  
 _"He's got a point; no one's gonna say yes to a face like that," chuckled Ray._

 _She laughed softly before looking towards a table._

 _"I'll get us a table...you can start looking," she said._  
 _"Will do, order me some honey mead?" asked Ray._

 _She nodded with a smile before making her way to the corner of the tavern. After taking a deep breath, Ray made his way towards the woman that caught his eye outside, who had taken a seat and was now drinking a hot beverage._

 _"Excuse me...if I'm not mistaken, you're from the Priest's guild correct?" he asked._

 _The woman lowered her cloak and mask before nodding slowly. Ray smiled before holding his hand out._

 _"My name is Ray, I'm the leader of a small group who's looking to expand," he explained._

 _The woman smiled at him before shaking his hand._

 _"Rina St. Germaine," she replied._

 _She offered him a seat, which he gratefully took._

 _"Who else is a part of your party?" she asked._  
 _"My friends Neal and Charlotte, Neal is a Thief while Charlotte is a Hunter," he explained._

 _Rina nodded her head slowly._

 _"I take it that you are a Warrior?" she asked._  
 _"How did you know?" retorted Ray._

 _She smiled and pointed towards the bar counter. Ray's eyes then hovered over a rather beautiful woman, who was handing a crate of milk to the bartender._

 _"My friend knows who you are because she keeps tabs on the Warrior's guild, not to mention you've made a bit of a name for yourself," she explained._

 _Ray laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head._

 _"You're a good leader and a really nice person, so if you're asking me to join your group, I'd be more than happy to," she said._

 _Ray let out a heavy breath of relief._

 _"You'd be welcomed with open arms, that's for sure," said Ray._

 _A few minutes of idle chatter passed until the woman from the bar joined them._

 _"Made a friend already?" she asked cheerfully._  
 _"Someone wants me to be a part of their group," replied Rina._

 _The woman then looked at Ray and gasped._

 _"You must be Ray! You're the one who's dating that Hunter right?" she asked._

 _Ray blushed profusely and placed a finger on his lips before shushing her._

 _"Don't want the whole universe to know that!" he said bashfully._

 _The woman shrugged before looking back at her friend._

 _"Are you going to join them?" she asked._  
 _"Yes...so does that mean you will too?" she replied._

 _The woman smiled and nodded proudly._

 _"Of course!" she said._

 _It took a few seconds for Ray to realize, but he immediately gasped._

 _"Long goldenrod hair...cheery personality...you wouldn't happen to be the Shining Maiden would you?" he asked._

 _The woman turned back to him and smiled brightly._

 _"I prefer to go by my actual name, it's Seraiya!" she replied._

 _Ray nervously bowed his head, comically causing it to collide with the table. Seraiya placed a hand on his head and rubbed it._

 _"Relax! I'm not gonna bite you!" she said with a giggle._

 _Ray raised his head back up to face her before shaking it._

 _"...I didn't dream for a moment that I'd get to meet a celebrity like you," he said._

 _She blushed brightly but shook her head._

 _"I just try my best in anything I do, you cut me and I bleed just like everyone else...and just so you know, where Rina goes I do too!" she said with a humble wink._

 _Ray sighed softly in relief before nodding gratefully._

 _"Thank you both...I thought it was going to be a real struggle to find people to help us," he said._  
 _"No sweat! So when do you want us to come meet the gang?" asked Seraiya._  
 _"We intend to make our first run next week; Charlotte's not completely recovered from the last one so we're letting her get some rest," he explained._

 _Both of the women nodded solemnly._

 _"Alright...well I had to drop off something for a friend so I've gotta run, I'll be in touch!" said Seraiya._

 _Rina got to her feet._

 _"Where do we find you guys?" she asked._  
 _"We live in the wooden cabin just outside of town, the one by the river," he replied._

 _Seraiya nodded._

 _"I know the place, let's go Rina," she said._

 _The priestess found her way to the paladin's side before nodding._

 _"We'll come see you before the week's out for proper introductions. Take care now!" said Seraiya._  
 _"Thanks again for your cooperation," replied Ray._

 _With a final nod, they made their way out of the tavern as Ray let out a deep sigh of relief. Satisfied that he did enough for the night, he got up to rejoin Charlotte. Much to his surprise, he found her with someone he had never seen before, drinking some tea. Charlotte turned to him and smiled._

 _"How'd it go?" she asked._  
 _"Got two new people...a friend of yours?" he asked._

 _She nodded._

 _"This is Theodore Raynes...Theo, this is my friend Ray," she explained._

 _The man looked up at Ray and smiled before holding his hand out._

 _"A pleasure," he replied._

 _Ray took his seat before raising an eyebrow._

 _"...I take it that you're a shaman?" he asked._  
 _"Good observation," replied Theo._

 _Charlotte cleared her throat._

 _"I was just telling Theo of our situation...and he's willing to help us," she explained._

 _Ray sighed deeply and shook his head._

 _"...I was hoping to not reveal that information until a little later so it wouldn't look like a pity party," he mumbled._  
 _"I would've helped regardless; it's the kind of person I am," replied Theo._

 _He smiled before closing his eyes, grasping a small wooden carving in his hand and speaking almost inaudibly. Ray raised an eyebrow and after a few seconds, Theo reopened his eyes._

 _"My friends agree with my decision, we are at your disposal," he said._

 _Ray smiled and got to his feet once more._

 _"We have a small cabin just outside of town...it's not much but it's what we call home," he explained._

 _Theo nodded before turning to Charlotte._

 _"I will find the cabin once I have gathered all of my things,"_

* * *

I stirred from my slumber, feeling the exhaustion of yesterday finally leave my body. I looked around to see all the others, still asleep in their sleeping bags. I sighed deeply and wiped the sweat from my face.

 _"I...was insane to think taking them here was a good idea...they all wanted nothing more than to help but now that we've come this far...perhaps it was better to try something safer,"_

I approached the campfire and gathered some of the heat into my hands before applying it to my cold cheeks. I looked around the area once more to ensure that we were all alone before looking down at my map.

 _"...We should be near to our destination now, here was where Charlotte tracked the goblins so we should run into them anytime now,"_

"...Ray?"

I turned to see that Charlotte had woken up and was rubbing her eyes.

"We won't be leaving for another couple hours...you should go back to sleep," I urged.  
"I can't sleep...because we've had so many close calls already,"

She turned back and looked at Rina, who was the first person to go to sleep.

"She's pushed herself so hard since we've gotten here because we've had to deal with so many of those goblins...at this rate, we're going to have to find somewhere safe for us to stay for a while," she explained.  
"That's not a viable option when we're this far into goblin territory...but if we can get our hands on that large sack the hobgoblin was carrying, we won't have to worry about rent or anything for months," I replied.

Charlotte bit her lip and shook her head.

"...I hope you're right, because things haven't been going that well since we started this thing," she said.  
"We'll have to be more careful no doubt, but if we keep tracking them like this...we'll catch them off guard," I said.

She nodded before getting to her feet.

"I'm going to wash my face in the pond and then scout ahead," she said.

I tried to object but she raised a hand.

"I'll be careful Ray," she urged.

Knowing that there was nothing I could do to change her mind, I let her go. It was about two hours before she came back and by that time, all of the others had woken up.

"What's going on up ahead?" I asked.  
"Tracks are fresh, looks like the goblins stopped to camp about a kilometer ahead," she replied.

I nodded before turning to Seraiya.

"Feeling any better?" I asked.  
"...I should be okay to fight," she replied.

Rina immediately shook her head.

"You've pushed your muscles as much as you can...even if I heal you right now, it won't do anything to stop the fatigue that's going to hit you," she explained.

Seraiya shook her head.

"I'm not abandoning all of you," she snapped.  
"She's right Seraiya...as much as I hate to say it, you're in no condition to fight another battle like the one before," said Theo.

The shaman closed his eyes and sighed.

"We're all very tired from this expedition and we can't take unnecessary risks right now, if you fight another battle...especially with goblins in those numbers, you're not going to last very long," he said.

Seraiya bit her lip and closed her eyes.

"You're going back on Koila,"

Everyone turned to me in absolute shock.

"But-" she protested.  
"I was the one who dragged you into this mess to begin with, you've done far more than I wanted you to...and I'm ordering you to go back and wait for us in town," I said firmly.

Seraiya cursed loudly.

"Are you out of your mind?! You're just as tired as I am! You won't stand a chance without me!" she shouted.  
"I'm not willing to bet your life on that Seraiya...take Koila and go," I said.

She tried to protest once again but Theo placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll be fine...we don't have much further to go and you really have fought the hardest of any of us, especially with that heavy mace you've carried for the past day and a half," he said.

She looked at me, clearly having an inner struggle with her decision. It wasn't until Rina placed her hand on her shoulder that she finally made a move.

"I'll take care of them...I just can't push myself too far, you on the other hand aren't going to improve unless you get some rest," she urged.

With an irritated, but defeated growl, the paladin made her way to her horse, who obediently got to his feet. After strapping most of the loot that the party had already obtained to her faithful steed, Seraiya mounted his back.

"...Come back, all of you," she ordered.  
"Count on it," said Neal.

Even though it was the Thief that just about everyone disliked saying the words, she nodded before taking off back towards the town. Knowing that we would be significantly more vulnerable with Seraiya's help, I turned to everyone.

"Listen up, these battles aren't going to be even more difficult for us because Seraiya isn't here to draw attention away from Rina...so that means all of you have to keep her in mind when you're fighting," I explained.

Theo nodded slowly.

"I will keep an eye on her as best I can, but we must move quickly before the goblins venture even deeper into the dungeon," he urged.

I nodded in agreement as I picked up my shield and sword.

"Let's get going,"

* * *

 **"CHARLOTTE! BEHIND YOU!"** I shouted.

The huntress didn't react in time as a vicious shield bash met her chest, knocking the wind out of her and sending her flying into a tree. I cursed loudly as I looked to my totem and began to channel it.

"Ensnare!" I shouted.

Large vines immediately grew out of the ground and restrained the goblin who just struck her. A loud battle cry followed as Ray swung his sword, opening a massive gash in the goblin's stomach and in the same motion, he spun and swung his shield across its face with such force, it snapped the roots and sent it to the ground with a sickening thud. I smiled at our small triumph...until I heard Neal cry out in agony. I turned around to see that he had been hit with an arrow and now, two goblins were encircling Rina. Knowing that there was no way she could defend herself, I began to channel again...only to realize that my totem had cracked right down the middle. I cursed loudly; there was nothing I could do to save her.

 **"OVER HERE YOU BASTARDS!"**

 _"No...he didn't just..."_

The sound of a sword meeting a shield immediately sent a chill down my spine as Ray beckoned the two remaining goblins to fight him. Upon examining him, he was already in terrible condition considering that he had taken several hits earlier in the fight and he was in so much pain that he was probably only able to stand on sheer adrenaline. The goblins lost interest in the priestess as they made a mad dash towards Ray. I took the chance to get to her before checking her wounds.

 _"Not good...her arm's in terrible condition, she's going to need help from the Priest's guild to recover from this,"_

Neal once again howled in agony as yet another arrow connected with his leg, dropping him to the floor like a sack of potatoes. I didn't want to resort to using her...but it was the only way I could see us getting out of this. I reached into my satchel in search of a special totem...only to find that it wasn't in there.

 _"No...I was sure I had it...I know I packed it into my satchel before we left on this venture,"_

 **"THEO! ABOVE YOU!"** screamed Rina.

I looked up to see that a goblin had leaped into the air and was now coming straight at me with an axe brandished. I had no time to get out of the way and I brace for impact...only to see an arrow sail through the air and strike it directly in the neck. I took the chance to roll out of the way of the oncoming body. I looked ahead to see that it was Charlotte who had fired the arrow, though she was bleeding from her head and was panting heavily. I smiled and gratefully nodded. She smiled back...but her face immediately turned blank as her eyes widened. Before I could say another word, she rose into the air and a blade went through her chest. Much to my horror, a hobgoblin was standing behind her, lifting her up as she slid down the length of the blade. The light left her eyes as I heard Ray scream in terror. The hobgoblin then threw her aside, turning its attention to Ray. I turned to Rina, to see that she was barely conscious.

 _"I have to get her out of here...but I can't leave Ray to fight all of them by himself,"_

"Theo! Get Rina out of here!" he bellowed.

I shook my head vigorously.

"If you don't, all three of us are dead and Seraiya will have sacrificed all this for nothing! Get her back there! Take the sack of coins with you!" he ordered.  
"Ray! I can't-"  
 **"THAT'S AN ORDER!"**

The tremendous surge of emotional duress began to drive me insane until suddenly, I felt power surge through my body. I felt myself shift into animal form, but upon looking at the ground, I wasn't ethereal. I had somehow managed to shift into a full fledged panther. It broke my heart...but I picked Rina up on my back. She weakly grasped onto my neck.

 _"Hold on as tightly as you can,"_

She nodded weakly as I did the unthinkable.

 **I left Ray and Charlotte behind.**

 **~ o ~**

 _"He must be around here somewhere...I can smell him,"_

I dropped off Rina at a safe area several minutes ago and after much thought and consideration, I decided to make my way back to see if I could save Ray. It was likely that Charlotte had perished, but I had to be sure. I promised Rina that I would bring back any news of their fate. After drinking the last healing salve I had in my pack as well as ensuring my totems were restored to fighting condition, I made my way carefully through the dungeon in animal form and managed to make it back to the area we got separated at. I searched around, using my nose to track them until I finally happened upon the same area we fought in.

It was still a horrifying mess of bodies...many goblins lay dead still. I made a note to remove their necklaces once I was leaving in order to help pay the Priest's guild for all of Rina's treatment. I eventually came upon Charlotte's scent...which I instinctively followed because she was the closest person to me. I found it...to find her mangled body leaning against a tree. Much to my astonishment, she was still breathing, albeit barely. I approached her, being careful of my surroundings because there was still the chance that the goblins were still around. After not finding any sign of them, I sat down in front of her. She slowly opened her eyes and shook her head.

"...You did well," she said.  
 _"Charlotte...you're...still alive?"_

I couldn't speak to her while shifted and I knew that if I came out of the form, the light would attract attention. I tried to urge her to hold onto my back, but I then noticed just how wounded she was. The discarded bottle at her left hand indicated that she drank a healing salve to seal the wound in her chest...but the large amount of blood on the ground indicated that she had already lost too much. It was only a matter of time...

"...Is Rina okay?" she asked.

I nodded and she sighed in relief.

"Neal died during the fight...they hunted him down after they finished off Ray...I heard his scream," she explained.

I felt my heart wrench violently at her words.

"...I don't have much time...I managed to feign my death by slowing my heart rate, but my leg is broken so I couldn't move to find you two," she explained.

I shook my head vigorously, realizing just how dire the situation was.

"I know you're going to blame yourself for this Theo...that perhaps there was something you could've said to Ray to change his mind about many things but the truth is...we all agreed to this expedition and now, we suffer the consequences," she said.

She coughed up blood and I immediately shifted back into human form, not giving a damn about the light it emitted.

"I...I don't know what happened...what went wrong," I cried.  
"It's okay Theo...I lived a good life with all of you," she said with tears going down her cheeks.

I shook my head, feeling tears begin to fill them.

"Ray fought to his last breath to buy time for my healing salve to seal the wound...but it wasn't enough to save me," she said.  
"I can still get you out of here...I can-" I began.  
"No...I can't come with you Theo...you're all I have left and I won't survive the trip back, you need to get Rina out of here and tell Seraiya everything that happened here," she urged.

I cursed under my breath, holding her hand tightly.

"It was a great month...I'm sad that we never got to take that trip to the wharf like we wanted to together...and that we instead had to attempt something desperate in order to keep our home," she cried.  
"You did everything you could Charlotte, no one could ask anything more of you because you were a mother to us all," I cried.

Though she was clearly in agony, she somehow managed to smile.

"...I'm glad I was able to help...now I need you to listen carefully,"

She looked to her left.

"In that bag...is the map that Ray had of this place, he was taking notes for further ventures into here...it also contains everything that he and I have ever written about our time here in Grimgar so take it all with you," she urged.

She winced in pain and coughed once more.

"That bag also contains all of the earnings Ray and I had saved up...take it all and use it wisely," she instructed.

It was difficult to accept it...but there was nothing I could do for her. I was not trained to heal others yet with my magic and I felt powerless to do anything for her now. I reached for the sack and shouldered it before returning to her side.

"...Get another group together...and take good care of them like you did for Ray, Neal and I," she begged.  
"I will...I'll get us to the Order Of Silverite, just like we said we would at the start of this journey," I cried.

She smiled and leaned back against the tree.

"...I know you will,"

I placed one of my totems down, knowing that the only thing I could do now was ease her pain. I closed my eyes and chanted softly as the totem began to glow with green light. After preparing the spell, I opened my eyes to look at her.

"Thank you...for everything Charlotte," I sobbed.

I squeezed her hand and she returned the gesture in kind.

"...Take care of yourself Theo...and thank you for being a friend to us,"

The spell began to take effect, sprinkling glowing dust over her face.

"...This will ease your pain Charlotte...I'll come back and make sure that everyone makes it to the afterlife," I urged.

She smiled at me as the dust began to take effect, putting her to sleep.

"Rest in peace Charlotte...your sacrifice will not be in vain," I said.

With a final heavy breath, I shifted back to animal form before making my way back to Rina.


	3. Chapter One: Desperate Measures

**Chapter One: Desperate Measures**

 _"Desperation is a hazard that clouds many things, most importantly...common sense,"_

 **~ o ~**

 **Two Months Later**

 **~ o ~**

"What's the verdict on the rent this month?" I asked.

Theo sighed deeply and shook his head.

"I honestly don't know how we're going to be able to handle it this time...we've been very lucky between the three of us on the last few trips to the dungeon but I'm beginning to think we're pushing our luck," he replied.

I too sighed deeply before looking at Rina.

"Any ideas?" I asked.  
"We could try looking around the tavern again; right now, any help would be a big difference," she replied.  
"It's still risky to attempt it with only four or five people...any word from your friends at the Paladin's guild?" asked Theo.

I shook my head.

"Everyone's been keeping busy; all of my friends are out of town on their pilgrimages or are already in parties of their own," I replied

Theo nodded slowly.

"I'll head over to the tavern and see what I can do, why don't you two go see if the Mage's guild has any takers?" he asked.

I shrugged and nodded before turning to Rina.

"You have a few friends over there don't you?" I asked.

She nodded slowly.

"I'll head over there then...you'd better get your armor looked at before we head out," she suggested.

She then placed a small satchel in my hand, full of coins.

"That should be enough for a blacksmith to take care of it should the need arise," she said.

Theo chuckled softly.

"Still the financial genius aren't you?" he teased.

Rina shrugged before raising her hood over her head.

"I'll meet you guys at the tavern in an hour," she said.  
"Good luck," I said.

She left the room as I turned to Theo.

"Anything you're hoping to find while you're there?" I asked.  
"...I've heard some talks of a Hunter who frequents the tavern as of late, perhaps I could convince her to join us," he explained.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Sounds like a friend of yours," I teased.

The shaman shook his head.

"My friends have been telling me about a Hunter who completed her training a bit faster than a lot of the others so I'm simply following up on those rumors," he replied.  
"It'd help a lot; we don't really have anyone who can bring the pain," I replied.  
"Agreed...so where will you go after you drop your armor off?" he asked.  
"I'm not sure, I'll decide when I get there," I replied.

He got to his feet and turned to the open door. He began to glow bright blue before he once again, turned into a panther. I rolled my eyes.

"Sometimes, I really wonder why you like doing that so much," I said.

He looked at me curiously for a moment before making his way outside. I rolled my eyes.

 _"Shamans..."_

I picked up my armor before placing it in a large sack and slinging it over my back. After ensuring the door was locked, I made my way over to the nearby blacksmith.

 **~ o ~**

"Back again lass?" he asked with a smile.  
"Yeah...just the usual inspection," I replied.

I placed the sack on the ground next to his forge before reaching for the sack of coins on my belt. However, he raised his hand.

"You still haven't been able to make a haul from the dungeon yet huh?" he asked.

I sighed softly and nodded almost in shame. He put a hand on his chin.

"You and your two friends must barely be making ends meet right now so why don't you pay me when you can?" he asked.

I shook my head vigorously.

"I couldn't do that-" I said nervously.  
"Put it on my tab Frederick,"

A female voice broke me out of my train of thought and I turned around to see a young woman approaching us.

"Ah! My favorite swordswoman! Back already from your trials?" he asked.  
"Passed them with flying colors, only two schools left," she replied with a confident smile.

She was wearing a red kimono and was carrying two swords on her right side. She was undoubtedly a member of the samurai. She had long brown, nearly as long as Rina's though it was pinned up into a neat ponytail. She was beautiful; she had deep, hazel eyes and judging from how youthful her face looked, she couldn't be any older than 22. She looked at me and smiled.

"You're the famous Paladin aren't you? The Shining Maiden?" she asked.

I examined her face for a moment, racking my brain in trying to remember if I've seen her before. It suddenly dawned on me...

"You're Hwei Nasura! The prodigy who's been learning each school of the samurai?" I said.

She smiled and bowed humbly.

"I'm surprised to see that my reputation precedes me," she replied politely.

I had read a great deal on the samurai, especially their swordsmanship which is something I've always been fascinated in watching. Frederick returned with a katana in his hand.

"Here's the sword you ordered," he said with a smile.  
"Thank you,"

She took the weapon from him before turning back to me.

"I've heard that you've been looking for someone to join your party?" she asked.

I nodded slowly.

"Things are getting really tight...you wouldn't happen to know anyone who's interested would you?" I asked.

She nodded and gestured for me to follow her.

"I may know someone who can help," she replied.

* * *

"Theo! Good to see you!" said the bartender happily.  
"Good to see you too Mavlo," I replied as I shook his hand.

I sat in front of the counter before taking a gulp of the beer in front of me.

"What brings you here today?" he asked.  
"Looking for someone...can you help?" I began.  
"Depends on who," he replied.

I heard an exasperated groan beside me and before I could react further, a weight pressed heavily against my back.

"Hey there Mr. Shaman, you gonna buy me another drink so we can get a room?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed softly to myself.

"Forget I asked," I retorted.

I slowly helped her to an unoccupied table before reaching into my satchel and handing her a small bottle.

"What's this?" she slurred.  
"A cleansing potion, should allow you to talk coherently and allow you to actually remember the talk," I replied.

She shrugged and quickly down the contents before looking up at me. It took a few seconds, but I could see her eyes that were previously very dilated now shrink down to normal. Her face looked a little less red as well.

"So...we doing this or what?" she asked.  
"I had something else in mind, if you've a moment to listen," I replied.

She looked around for a few moments before shrugging.

"Speak your mind then," she said.  
"I've heard about your exploits as a Hunter...my group is looking for some extra help so I came looking to see if you'd be interested in joining us," I asked.

She raised an eyebrow.

"What's in it for me?" she replied.

 _"Oh...a hard to get type are you?"_

I cleared my throat.

"Judging from how recent that eye injury of yours is, not to mention the mild limp...you sustained those injuries during your training didn't you?" I asked.

She looked at me, now with great interest.

"After going through all of that, you've probably been looking for some way to prove your worth...am I wrong?" I asked.

She humbly shrugged with a cocky smirk on her face.

"Alright Mr. Shaman, you have my attention," she said.  
"My name is Theodore Raynes," I corrected.  
"Lumina Lightbringer at your service," she said with a rather comedic attempt at a bow.

Despite the scars of her training, the huntress was still a beauty. Long golden hair that reached down to her rear, a very modest chest and a surprisingly healthy Caucasian complexion. She stood at around 5' 8" and sported a thin and toned figure befitting a dancer, and a cerulean blue left eye. I could only assume that she was wearing that leather eyepatch because she lost the other eye during her training or perhaps from a battle. From what I assumed to be the Hunter's training or perhaps some skirmishes in the past, she had multiple scars and wounds that haven't quite healed. Her left leg showed a rather heavy burn though I couldn't make out the true extent of the damage under the bandages. A few minor scars from nicks, cuts, and impact wounds dot her otherwise flawless legs, arms, and stomach. Finally, her right ring finger was missing...I'm sure that the story behind losing it was something that she wasn't really interested in sharing so I didn't even think of asking.

She was clearly aware of how attractive she looks in the eyes of men here as she wore a ruffled top that bears her shoulders and cleavage and tight britches that for some reason, highlighted her perky rear and a pair of heeled sandals.

"Pleasure," I replied as I held out my hand.

She looked at me for a second before shaking it with a smile.

"How many will be a part of your group if I join?" she asked.  
"Four...my two other companions went to see if they would have some luck in looking for others," I replied.  
"I could ask around to see if anyone's interested if you'd like," she offered.

I nodded gratefully.

"That would be helpful thank you," I replied.  
"Before we get to that...there's one thing I need to ask you," she began.

She leaned down on the table and gave me a look that was half way between serious and flirty.

"I meant what I said...are you going to buy me a drink and get us a room?" she asked.

I shook my head, laughing softly at her blunt offer.

"Perhaps some other time," was my solemn response.

* * *

"Here we are!" said Hwei.

I looked at the house with total fascination. I had followed her to the other side of town and it truly seemed like a different world. The housing looked a lot more traditional...a lot more like what I read in the library about the samurai. Her house wasn't large, probably only able to house two people comfortably and that's assuming they didn't mind each other being in their living space all the time. Hwei removed her slippers before turning to me.

"Could you remove your shoes before you enter? The floor was just cleaned yesterday," she asked.  
"Sure, not a problem!" I replied.

I did as she asked before entering the house. She turned around and faced an open doorway.

"Minato! Are you making lunch?" she called out.  
"Yes I am! Do we have guests?" replied a deep male voice.  
"Yes, we have one guest, could you make some more for her along with some tea?" she requested.  
"No problem!" he replied.

She smiled and showed me to a small table...that had no seats. I ran back through the book I read in my head about how Japanese households normally operate and upon remembering, I knelt down on the ground and positioned both my feet under my rear before sitting down. Hwei laughed softly.

"Someone's read a lot about our way of life I see," she teased.  
"I've always been fascinated by the training you all do...so I've done a lot of reading," I replied bashfully.  
"Just as how we samurai aspire to be role models like you Paladins, who are universally respected by just about everyone while only the most elite of us truly get any recognition," she replied humbly.

It took a few more minutes of idle chatter, but I heard footsteps approaching the room. I looked to see a rather...handsome man.

Standing at about 5' 9", he had a very toned build though he wasn't particularly large. He had long, dark brown hair tied in a ponytail that reached down to his lower back. It was almost the same exact shade as Hwei's hair now that I had a close enough look at it. He had dark brown eyes and a fair complexion, a few shades darker than porcelain. He was clearly of Japanese descent, with his sharp facial features and that accent he had beforehand. Unlike Hwei, he wasn't wearing traditional garb and instead opted to wear a dark grey sleeveless shirt under some training fatigues, which are crimson. He wore leather sandals and I noticed that he had a talisman around his neck. It was the same talisman that was meant to signify that a samurai had completed their training at the Gi school. From what I could tell, he was most certainly a samurai as well. He placed a large tray down which had three empty plates along with a small wooden container full of rice balls as well as some sushi. From what I could tell by the scent, he cooked the sushi thoroughly...because the scent of spices made my mouth start to water. He then placed another tray on the table, this one holding three empty cups along with a medium sized teapot with steam rising out of the spout. He then took a seat between Hwei and I at the end of the table before turning to me.

Before he could say anything however, his eyes widened upon looking at me.

"Are you...The Shining Maiden?" he asked.

I laughed nervously before nodding bashfully.

He then turned to Hwei.

"I didn't realize we'd be having a celebrity over today...I'd have cooked something nicer," he said.

Much to my amusement, she flicked him in the forehead.

"You worry too much little brother," she said with a giggle.

 _"He's her brother...that explains their similarities."_

"Seraiya, I'd like you to meet my younger brother, Minato," she said.

He turned to me and bowed slightly before extending a hand.

"It's an honor to meet you," he said humbly.  
"I didn't know that Hwei Nasura had a brother," I said looking at him.

After I shook his hand, he turned back to her.

"She doesn't get to spend much time around this side of town evidently," he said with a shrug.  
"Come now Minato...be nice," she urged.

He bowed apologetically.

"We don't have visitors often nowadays so forgive him for being a bit of a jerk," she said as she flicked him in the head again.

I laughed softly before taking some of the food off of the tray.

"So, who's the person you had in mind to help my group and I?" I asked.

Minato didn't look up from his plate and for some reason, he seemed more tense.

"It would be my brother; he's needed to rejoin a group since he lost his last one," said Hwei.  
"...You lost a group before?" I asked.

Minato's eyes narrowed and he suddenly lost the cold aura about him...now replaced with a gloomy one.

"Two actually," he replied.

Hwei placed a hand on his shoulder before looking up at me.

"He's trained very hard and I know he can prove himself to be useful," she assured.

I nodded in agreement but Minato shook his head.

"I can't do that...not right now," he replied.

He picked up some of the food into a plate before taking his leave from the room, looking as if he were in agony.

"We could use all the help we can get...is there any chance that you could join us?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"I have matters to attend to...I was sure my brother would be willing to help but it doesn't appear so," she replied.

She sighed deeply before turning her attention to the doorway Minato just stepped through.

"He's had it very rough...and even though he's my little brother, he's been doing so much to take care of me...I hate seeing him like this," she whispered.

I let out a heavy sigh, knowing now that there was just about nothing I could do; I had exhausted just about every option that we had, including the samurai. Though I was fortunate enough to meet Hwei Nasura, I still didn't have anyone who could help us. I had wanted to avoid going into the dungeon without a full six person group, but now...we needed to make something happen. Rent was due in three days and we need to get something going if we intend to keep our cabin. I then noticed Hwei had pushed a bowl of rice to me and tried to offer me a smile.

"The least I can do is offer you some lunch...if you need any more equipment, tell Frederick that it's on me; I wish I could be of more assistance but my hands are tied," she said.

I smiled brightly at her and shook my head.

"I'm lucky enough to have even run into you, let alone get help...I should be the one offering some compromise," I said.

She smiled at me.

"I'll see what I can do about sending help...but if you have to go to the dungeon, be very careful and protect whoever is the one healing all of you," she explained.  
"My best friend is the Priest of our group so I know that much," I replied.  
"What do you have in your party?" she asked.  
"Rina is my best friend and our healer and our other friend Theodore Raynes, who is a shaman," I replied.  
"...Not an ideal group to go in with, I take it you've been all over town?" she asked.

I nodded slowly.

"No one seems to be interested and my guild is in no position to offer any kind of assistance, the samurai was my last option," I explained.

She nodded slowly.

"Be very careful if you venture into there...it's a horrible place," she said.

I nodded in agreement.

 _"I know all too well..."_

* * *

 **Two Hours Later**

 **~ o ~**

"First day on the job and we're already heading into the dungeon...how'd I let myself get signed up for this," sighed Lumina.

Seraiya shook her head.

"It's not the ideal situation but we're going to have to make do with it...rent's due in two days and if we don't make it, we lose our home," she said.

Rina cleared her throat.

"We need to make enough to pay rent, we can deal with food and such later...which means we need a bare minimum of three silvers before we can come back," she explained.

Theo sighed deeply before turning to Lumina.

"I'm sure there's somewhere else you'd rather be instead of going on a suicide mission to help us," he said.

She scoffed and shrugged.

"Beats sitting in a tavern and drinking myself into a stupor again, besides all of you are now my comrades so I'll do everything I can to help," she said.

She looked towards the entrance of the dungeon.

"I've been here a few times during my training so I have most of this floor memorized...if we move quickly and don't stop for anything along the way, we should be able to make it to the second floor where it's at least feasible to find something valuable," she explained.

Seraiya nodded before turning to Rina.

"Ready?" she asked.

The priestess nodded as she secured her bag to her back.

"We have enough provisions to last for two days before we have to survive off the land...so we'd better make it count," she urged.

Lumina walked ahead of them before putting her hand to the floor. She was silent for a few moments before she turned back to the others.

"Let's go, these tracks are at least a few hours old so there shouldn't be anything ugly waiting for us," she assured.

She turned to Seraiya.

"Don't fight unless we have to because if you get tired or get too hurt, there's no way we can continue until you're back on your feet again," she ordered.

The paladin nodded slowly as Lumina turned to Rina.

"I presume you're an experienced enough healer to know what to do when it comes to all of us?" she asked in an almost snarky tone.

The priestess nodded in kind.

"I've never been one to get overly zealous with my role so don't worry about me tiring myself out," she replied.

A slight but proud smile graced the huntress's face as she turned to Theo.

"You're the fastest one out of all of us because you can shift into an animal but you've also got the best senses, so you're going to be the one to take point and sniff out anything that I may miss; I'm a Hunter but I'm not my master," she explained.

The shaman nodded.

"I'll do anything you need me to," he replied.

The huntress smiled and took a breath before looking at the entrance to the cave.

"We'll be able to get to the second floor in about twenty minutes of we move quickly...I'm assuming that you're heading there because of the silver ore deposits?" she asked.  
"We got a tip that the goblins have a small mining operation there, the goal is to get a sack of it to take care of everything we need to at home," explained Rina.  
"That's going to be difficult; despite how little and crazy they are, they're very clever little bastards," continued Lumina.

Seraiya nodded in agreement.

"We'll carry as much as we can, but not enough to detriment our escape," she said.

She then pointed to her horse.

"Koila's a strong stallion, he can carry it for us," she said.

Lumina whistled loudly.

"Purebred Grimgar Mustang, you paladins sure know how to impress people," she said.

Seraiya rubbed Koila's head, causing him to affectionately nuzzle her cheek. Lumina took another breath before looking at Theo.

"Remember our plan, let me know if anything is going on ahead so we can change our plan of action," she instructed.

Theo closed his eyes as light began to envelop him. Once it faded, he had transformed into an ethereal panther once more.

"Let's go...keep your guard up," she urged.

The party followed Theo into the cave.


End file.
